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79 temp gauge seems to be reading high. Verified with a temp gun. Whats most likely the problem, gauge or head sensor. Or is it 50/50?
Car has always ran on the cool side. (Dewitts radiator with electric fans) I have a direct screw-in liquid filled gauge ordered to double verify.
If you verified the temp with an infrared temp gun, sounds like the engine is running hot. What temp are you reading? Have you made any changes to the cooling system recently?
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Willcox made a adjustable resistor to calibrate the temp gauge. Other companies now make them...heres one https://www.corvettecentral.com/c1-5...ustable-301290
The issue is the replacement sensors arent calibrated to the gauges like the originals were
Added a temp gauge directly to manifold and idled car without fans till interior factory gauge hit little over 220. Manifold showed around 195-200. IR gun was lowest of all 3 and I don't put much trust in it (Its a cheap one).
Both gauges matched close till car got warmed up well.
I'll keep a eye on it but it seems car temp is fine.
Might sound crazy but I use it as a PS fluid cooler. My Borgeson is almost touching my side pipe headers. I have a heatshield between them but added the cooler hoping it would do some good.
Well dummy finally figured it out. It was just a stuck thermostat. Only reason the car didn't run too hot was that the thermostat had holes drilled in it. Just enough flow to keep car around 220 head temp and to make me think it was something else. Anyway I replaced it and car is back to running on the cooler side. "Keep It Simple Stupid"
It was the big ground cable from the frame to the engine. I took off the bolt attaching the cable at the frame (which by the way isn’t easy to do because there is limited space for tools). Cleaned the metal and reattached the cable. Never had a fluctuating temperature needle again. Thanks for the suggestion.
Considering the issue only occurs once per cold start, I would suspect a slow or sticking thermostat.
Simple test of the theory would be having someone watch the gauge while the car warms up and you monitor the thermostat housing temp to witness how temps do or don't correlate.
Possibly rev the engine a little during warmup to simulate a driven warmup (versus idle warmup).
If things don't look quite right during your test, pull the thermostat and test it in a pot of boiling water.
Temp gauge problems
