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Triumph TR6 - TR6 Operating Temp Survey

I'm wondering what engine temp other TR6 owners are seeing. I seem to be running at about 185 degrees. I checked today with both a infrared thermometer and the old fashion meat thermoter. Both registered about 185. I checked the coolent as it flowed past the top opening. I should mention that it is about 85-90 degress out today.
Thanks
JW BRAW

Sounds like you have a 185 degree thermostat. And your radiator isn't plugged. You could point the infrared at different parts of the radiator core, for fun.
Tom

I run a 160 T-stat in mine, and when the outside temp is in the 70's my gauge never gooes above the mid mark
Charlie
Charlie B.

JW-Mine runs at the mid point marks, which is about 180 deg. If the outside temp is much over 80 or heavy traffic, the needle starts to creep upward.
Berry Price
BTP Price

HMM My needle is at about 3/4 when its 185. I have replaced the sending unit, the gauge and the voltage stabilizer. Any ideas on why my gauge is running high. I know it never goes over 185 cause my electric fan comes on at that temp runs for a few minutes and then shuts off.
JW BRAW

JW-A long time ago, there was a posting on the 6pack list checking the marks on the temp gauge against a new after market mechanical gauge, it might still be available in the archives. The 3/4 mark was 200 deg.
Berry
BTP Price

JW,

Mine runs mostly about 1/4 of the way up the gage. I've never tested it but the engine just feels as though it's hotter. When we recently drove on a hot 90 deg.+ day the inside of the car was hotter than blazes even with the top down. I could barely touch the passenger floor thanks to the exhaust running around there. My idle oil pressure became lower than usual which is why it seems to be hotter than indicated by the gage.

Please share what you find in the archives.. I'm too lazy to look for myself.

Henry
HP Henry Patterson

JW,
Yours sounds good to me.

Henry,
When we got my '71 6 it did much like you describe. On the trip home (3500 miles) we ended up overheating - it actually boiled over even though the gauge read 3/4. Changed out the temp sensor and all is well now.

Tom
Tom Sotomayor

Tom,

I think I'll order a temp sensor. Should be a cheap simple thing to do.

Thanks

Henry
HP Henry Patterson

Also check your gauge...it's easy just use a small jumper with clips ..pull off the wire at the temp unit at the water pump clip one end to it and the other to any metal on the engine..when you turn on ignition the needle should go off the scale.
Charlie
Charlie B.

Thanks Charlie,

I tested as you suggested and it passed. i just ordered a new sender.

Henry
HP Henry Patterson

FWIW, there was a discussion on the 6-pack site about temp gauge readings and such with several people discovering that their gauges were reading high with new senders. The fix appears to involve including a resistor in the mix.

http://www.6-pack.org/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3493&highlight=resistor

My car runs with the needle in the middle of the gauge in 80-90's So Cal and no radiator shroud (I know, I know, I'll get around to putting it back in). The needle edges just past the middle when sitting still.
RC Chesavage

I'm sure the electronic part of the gauges are just aging...30+ years for most of them...so the addition of a resistor makes sense to bring them back to a more normal reading.

Charlie
Charlie B.

The 6-pack link is interesting, particularly the last post (not the bugle version!!).

It says that the TR6 'translplanted' gauges sometimes used in the Morgans have an adjustment screw in the back of the gauge.

Is this the case? - I'm not pulling mine out just to have look as it reads OK.

If so it would be the answer to many gauge reading errors.
Roger H

I'll take a reading at the radiator with a digital thermometer. I think that should be a true reading of the water temp.

HP Henry Patterson

New temp sending units are indeed reading higher. As I mentioned previously my original gauge/sending unit assy. runs with the needle about 1/4 way up the gauge. I put a new sending unit in and it was running between 1/2 and 3/4 way up the guage. I put a thermocouple inside one of the coolant hoses and found that the new gauge was above 1/2 way mark close to 3/4 when the thermocouple read 190 deg on the handheld meter readout. This seems to match what others have indicated with their new senders. I may just stay with my original sender that reads a little low... Mentally, for me, it just looks better.

Roger, I would be interested to know about the possible adjustment screw on the back of the gauge. But, like you, I don't want to pull the gauge out to look. Maybe somebody know's.

Henry
Herny Patterson

Henry,

After my temp sender got replaced (last summer) the needle now sits square in the middle under normal conditions. This is with a 180*F thermostat in place.

The 'adjustable' Smiths gauges (typically water temp and fuel gauges) have two adjustment slots accessible through holes in the back of the case (Originally the holes are plugged with corks!). The slot closest to the low end of the gauge adjusts the 'at rest' position. The slot behind the high end adjusts the high end of the gauge.

It isn't difficult to get the needle adjusted to a sensible position on the gauge. With all of that said, I don't know if the TR6 has adjustable gauges or not.

Tom
Tom Sotomayor

My gauge reads at the mid point on hots days (70 +) while on the highway. Arriving at customs and waiting 1/2 hr pushes the gauge up to the red, at which point I shut it down.

On another, my fuel gauge goes off the scale when I fill up and I have 100 miles on the odometer before the needle reaches Full. That's out of whack. The end result is that I look for a gas station at 1/4 tank. I think the sender needs some adjustment.
BC

My Temperature gauge is reading between 3/4 and H now that I have a new temp sender (this is the second brand new sender I've tried). The mechanic I take my car to said that the voltage stabilizer (the little silver thing between the wire coming from the engine side and the wire going to the temp gauge) is probably not working. He said to test this, turn the ignition on, on the engine side a voltage meter should read 12V and on the gauge side the meter should read 9V. If it is reading 12V on the gauge side the voltage stabilizer is buggered. So... do I replace the voltage stabilizer (approx $30) or do like the 6pack said, use a resistor?

Any thoughts?

Thank you
Ken
zauimaui

This thread was discussed between 02/08/2007 and 22/08/2007

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