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I went for a ride with the wife today…. My 78 water temp ran at about 190 to 195 doing about 65 mph. When I went on the back roads and doing about 40 – 45 mph it was at about 170 to 180 degrees. I changed it out from a 195 to a 160 degree about a week ago. During the old days I was always told anything below 200 deg was fine and anything over that you should start to get concerned.
This was without using the AC.. What do you guys think?
My '71 with the new engine it runs the same way. I have a 160 degree, new rad. and high flow water pump. Everyone has told me the same thing. I'm going to put on an electric fan infront of rad. :confused:
My car runs over 200 all the time, but I hope it's my gauge thats wrong? I say this because I changed my fan clutch, waterpump, T-stat, sending unit and flushed the radiator, All this and no change to the temp? If in fact I am running at 200+ will this cause serious damage?
Running around 200 degrees will not hurt your engine. My engine runs at 210 degrees in town on hot days. Once you start talking 230, 240 etc.... then it's time to be concerned. Personally I wouldn't drive around with my engine at 230 or above.
I was running 210-220 without having second thoughts until I started reading threads in this forum. I did as a number of you suggested- checked (and replaced some) radiator seals, checked ratio of water to anti-freeze (basically, went from 50/50 to 60/40 by siphoning off some fluid and replacing with distilled water) and added a bottle of water-wetter (what the heck.) Now, in this past weekend's 90+ temperatures, I was cruising at 180-190. Never came close to 210. Excellent for this old BB. Thanks folks! :D
Since my rebuild, I have been running hot, 210-230. I have tried all kinds on combos, and am still working. What I would like to add, is that above 200, your oil life starts dropping like a rock. We make millions of bearings, and oil life is key to making a bearing last. So, we always stress that if temp gets above 200, you better double the frequency of oil changes. Temperature kills the additives in oil.
If you're running hot, better get some more Mobil1. ;)