Just wanted to ask if my solution seems plausible.

First for the background - I had a high temp gauge reading (see '93 Overheating Thread below by willy0505), so i ended up doing a compression test (to check for blown head gasket - all ok), replacing radiator, thermostat, temp sending unit, radiator fan switch, radiator fan relay, coolant bleed, etc.

After all of that, fan comes on, coolant circulates, no bubbles in coolant, no discolored oil, etc, so i thought, maybe the gauge is just recalibrated now and above the middle (i.e. little thermometer) or 2/3 is now normal.

So i hooked up a Sunpro Temp Gauge (spliced into radiator line coming right of Thermostat Housing) and although temp on dashboard gauge goes very close to H at times, the new temp gauge measuring the coolant in the radiator hose after the thermostat never goes above 190 degrees (maybe 192 at highest in traffic) and mostly stays between 170 & 180.

My question is this - now that i am monitoring coolant directly from the thermostat (thus the engine) am i ok to drive at these temps?

Thanks in advance for all of the help & this may help some others with temp gauge problems as well.

 

If the coolant temp. stays within a safe range then I see no problem.

 

When the engine is hot, I think the coolant temp should be about 195F to 205F. How exactly did you measure coolant temperature? By the way, the 1-wire sending unit for the dash coolant temp gauge is located below the distributor. It's also possible that the sending unit connector is contaminated or corroded.

 

Sorry for the delay - to measure the temp, i spliced into the radiator house, right after the thermostat housing....the problem is that i am still losing coolant slowly....no white smoke and no creamy colored dipstick and compression seemed fine as well....so i am not sure what the heck is going on with this thing...