Date: Fri, 28 Jun 2002 14:05:07 -0500
Reply-To: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Max Wellhouse <maxjoyce@IPA.NET>
Subject: Re: Aux Oil Cooler /VDO accureacy
In-Reply-To: <20020628.103113.216.5.wilden1@juno.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed
I took my dipstick sender for oil temp from my 79 loaf, put it in a pot of
boiling water at 200ft. above sea level(grounded the sender to chassis
while it was out of the tube hole and had ignition switch on) Guess
what? The gauge read 100 C right on the money. Technically for it to be
totally accurate, I guess I'd need to be in New Orleans or closer to 0
evelvation, but close enough for shade tree mechanics. BTW, my gauge came
out of a 77 Sirrocco, could it be that they are more accurate than the
aftermarket gauges?
DM&FS
At 10:31 AM 6/28/2002 -0500, Stan Wilder wrote:
>Glad to see that you decided to install the cooler.
>
>Now, And i drove ti hard yesterday, my oil temp is around 90-95C,
> > heads 275-325, and oil is up about 5-10 lbs...........is this
> > awesome or what? Definitely one of the best mechanical things I
> > have done to my van.
>----------------------- Clip --------------------------
>Here is a little test for you: Run your engine normally for about an hour
>at the speeds you want to be driving at. Pull over and park your van on a
>steep incline or with the drivers side wheels up on a curb.
>Take a candy thermometer and drop it into your oil fill tube. Give it
>about two minutes to register and check it against your oil temperature
>gauge. (need the oil table up into the filler tube).
>Since Candy goes crazy with + or - 5 degrees (f) these thermometers are
>very accurate for the cheap price. (mostly less than $4.00).
>The VDO gauges are *averaging the temp* that you read on your gauge. It
>takes a long time to go up and about the same to go down.
>My VDO oil temp gauge may say 100 (c) and if I want it to read something
>else I just put in another of the same gauges and I'll have a different
>reading, speaks volumes about their quality.
>In addition the placement of the sender can give you various results. At
>the sump plate location you are reading the temp of the oil that is being
>bypassed back into the crank case after use by the engine bearings.
>To farther confuse you the power supply for your gauge needs to be
>powered from a terminal that has its feed from the voltage stabilizer.
>(example: If you've got a Volt meter, the needle shouldn't bounce when
>the flashers are on. If they do, you've got the wrong power source.)
>An additional direct ground from the engine case to your ground multi pin
>connector behind your dash will also bring more accuracy.
>Summary: Don't quit working until you match the gauge to the candy
>thermometer or you're just guessing at the oil temp.
>CHT changes are almost immediate within one minute but I can change my
>CHT by swapping gauges too.
>If you added length to the CHT installation kit wires, its unlikely that
>you got the exact copper alloy in both the VDO kit wires and your
>extension wires, hence you're once again guessing.
>I don't know of a fix for this but I found that giving the wires a good
>insulation wrap at the solder joints keeps the joints from becoming mini
>senders that effect your gauge reading.
>I've done all the things I've suggested and I'm exhausted from *lack of
>proper instructions*.
>
>Stan Wilder
>83 Air Cooled Westfalia
>
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