78vette78

can anybody tell me the normal teim for my 1978 vette my temp the needle of my temp gauge gouse up to 200<---- thats like the middle

also how do u read the oil gause??? how do i know when its normal or not???

thanks.......

PuddleJumper

the time for it to heat up to 200 very s so much can be any amount of time really. as for the oil its about 40 PSI if im thinking correctly it can be like 20 if the engine is running low RPMs and the oil is really hot or thin
Ryan

justanotherdoe

If you have a 195 thermostat, the 200 reading is 'perfect'.

The oil pressure can be a bit more variable. When I frist bought my 76, the gauge would read in the 20-50 range. That sender had a slow drip, so I replaced it a couple years ago. Now the gauge reads 40-80 when operating, and 0 for a second on first start after an oil change as the system is primed. I don't have any oil leaks and all of the seals I've checked are good. It's probably a mis-match in resistance range between the sender and gauge, and I can live with that.

My advise is not to worry too much about the absolute oil pressure reading, and just make sure that the gauge increases when rpms are up, and drops when at idle.

But if you're really interested to have an accurate reading, get a analog pressure gauge and plumb it in to see what your oil pressure is, then find a electrical sender/gauge set that reads the same as the analog gauge.

78vette78

so are you saying is 200 is too high???

PuddleJumper

no i was meaning to say getting up to 200 takes any amount of time. depends on your thermostat actually 200 is a good temp less ware on the engine.

Ryan

78VetteChic

On my 78 when fully warmed up water temp runs 200.

78vette78

cool thanks for the info.

the reason why im askin cause i got my upper radiator hose replaced and put new coolant (I HOPE HE DID CHANGE THE COOLANT HA HA). The mechanice told me that my radiator is not circulating. he was goin to charge me $200 and i said no. I think if my radiator is not workin my car would have been overheating long time ago. The way i see it why fix it if its not broken.

And i dont really drive my vette too much. 4 to 5 times a month the most.

78VetteChic

Over a decade ago we replaced the stock radiator with a Modine 4 core. No problems since.