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Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 7:34 am
by tonyiiiafl
I replaced the temp gauges yesterday, going to replace a sender on starboard engine. Port now needs steady, no tapping the gauge. It has a the original sensor. Starboard still runs higher close to 170 st idle. water is pumping. I am going to swap out starboard sensor this AM. I have the Sierra temp gauges. ‘Meh? Close to original, but not original. One thing i DO like is the red back light. At night it brings me right to the gauge. If I can’t get temp down with the new sensor, I will swap out the raw water pump. NOT looking forward to this task. Not hard, but also has to be done from above.

Has anyone seen a source for this temp gauge?

Thank you!

Best,

Tony

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 8:38 am
by bud37
Tony...do you have the hot water tank heating option from your engines...if so which engine feeds the tank ?

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 10:40 am
by Cooler
Just fyi - the brand of the original gauges are VDO. If you are FWC, that 170 degree temp is normal. I would not be real concerned about engines running hot until you get to 190 to 200. 8-) er

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 10:45 am
by Viper
tonyiiiafl wrote:Source of the post....Has anyone seen a source for this temp gauge?...
I doubt they're still available but have you tried contacting VDO? You can also try surplus retailers like Great Lakes Skipper.

Have you confirmed the temp at the sender with an IR temp gun?

You have closed cooling right?

What temps are both engine running at?

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 4:16 pm
by tonyiiiafl
I have the Starboard engine hooked into the water heater. Port running at 160is. New gauges 9As port was a bit erratic) and now sits at 160 at idle, still need to take it out. Starboard is running around 165-168 at idle. I can see it go up and thermostat open and go down. I bought a couple of Sierra gauges as they had the 100 to 220 range as teh VDO have. Now looking for a sensor that is 100 to 220

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 4:51 pm
by tonyiiiafl
I saw VDO has 100 - 250 degree gauges and matching sender units.....,.how cool is that?

I am going to buy an IR temp gun this week and see where things really are.

You all are the best.

Best,

Tony

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 5:07 pm
by Hoplite808
Since the engines are raw water cooled when was the last time the system was flushed with something like a barnacle buster solution to make sure and marine growth or calcium buildup gets cleaned out of the cooling jacket.

It’s not a hard thing to do and is some I add to my annual maintenance routine.

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 5:08 pm
by km1125
tonyiiiafl wrote:Source of the post I have the Starboard engine hooked into the water heater. Port running at 160is. New gauges 9As port was a bit erratic) and now sits at 160 at idle, still need to take it out. Starboard is running around 165-168 at idle. I can see it go up and thermostat open and go down. I bought a couple of Sierra gauges as they had the 100 to 220 range as teh VDO have. Now looking for a sensor that is 100 to 220

I'm wondering if you don't really have a sticky thermostat. You really shouldn't see the temp go up and down with a constant load. As it approaches the set temperature it starts to open, so even before it's fully open additional cooling is happening. If there's not enough heat being generated, it should never fully open and just regulate the flow based on the set temperature.

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 6:07 pm
by bud37
Tony ...the reason I asked is quite simple, I have experienced the engine connected to the water heater running consistently warmer before on certain boats, not much but around 10 deg. F. We are in fresh water so we could run the engines hotter than you can.

Re: Temp Gauge

Posted: July 16th, 2023, 6:23 pm
by tonyiiiafl
The engines are 3/4 closed cooled. Only thing that sees raw water are the risers. The temp gauge does go up and down when running.