5.9 Magnum Cooling Improvements
Champion
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,574
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg,PA
You just got that car no?? Why ya selling?
Professional
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 189
Likes: 0
From: Canada
As others have said, I would not expect *any* OEM gauge to be accurate tighter than maybe 5% and it would not shock me to see 10%. Could just be it's reading 195F but indicating some other number.
Also, OEM gauges are highly damped so that they don't jump around much; this makes them somewhat slow to respond to changes but can also affect accuracy somewhat.
There is always the possibility it's the sender, not the gauge, or maybe even an error in both is compounding.
Usually I just like to drive a vehicle for a while and see where the various gauge needles like to point in a fully warmed up motor. As long as it's not "normally" in "the red" I'm usually OK with it. If it deviates from that "normal" spot, then there is possibly something abnormal going on.
Unless you go to the trouble of testing with a known accurate sender and gauge, there is really no way to know for sure, but I'd be inclined to not worry about it if it were my truck, unless it moves from it's usual spot some time.
I think it's just a resistance sender; maybe you could put a meter on it and read the voltage directly, and dig up what temp that is supposed to represent. Would tell you if the gauge is reading the wrong number or not, but wouldn't tell you if the sensor was off unless you could put the sensor in a known temperature environment, say, boiling water. Probably not worth the effort for the sensor but maybe for the gauge.
Also, OEM gauges are highly damped so that they don't jump around much; this makes them somewhat slow to respond to changes but can also affect accuracy somewhat.
There is always the possibility it's the sender, not the gauge, or maybe even an error in both is compounding.
Usually I just like to drive a vehicle for a while and see where the various gauge needles like to point in a fully warmed up motor. As long as it's not "normally" in "the red" I'm usually OK with it. If it deviates from that "normal" spot, then there is possibly something abnormal going on.
Unless you go to the trouble of testing with a known accurate sender and gauge, there is really no way to know for sure, but I'd be inclined to not worry about it if it were my truck, unless it moves from it's usual spot some time.
I think it's just a resistance sender; maybe you could put a meter on it and read the voltage directly, and dig up what temp that is supposed to represent. Would tell you if the gauge is reading the wrong number or not, but wouldn't tell you if the sensor was off unless you could put the sensor in a known temperature environment, say, boiling water. Probably not worth the effort for the sensor but maybe for the gauge.
Last edited by Johnny2Bad; Apr 17, 2012 at 06:02 PM.
I can't save enough of my paycheck while paying a car note, and full coverage insurance on a little sporty car like that.
Champion
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 3,574
Likes: 0
From: Harrisburg,PA
I understand that. One reason im glad my cobra blew up. 500 a month for car insurance was crazy!!
