Okay, so I acquired and tested a 195* thermostat and installed it. The thermometer read over 180 in the radiator like it's supposed to, but the temp gauge still read at the bottom of the normal range, so I pulled the sending unit out and cleaned it and cleaned its hole. There was some crud in there.
I then found an old spare that I had sitting around. I compared the resistance of the two at room temperature, and it was approximately 235 ohms in the spare and 405 ohms in the one I had been using. I then set them both in some water on the stove and heated the water up. I didn't bother to check exactly how hot it was but I would guess it was around 150*. The spare read 37 ohms and the one I'd been using read 63 ohms.
So I decided to just install the spare unit. I didn't use any thread sealer of any kind because I read things online warning against it. It doesn't leak a drop. Now the gauge moves up to the bottom C line when I turn on the key with a cool engine (it probably had some residual heat, but I don't know how much) and points between the T and the E but closer to the E of the word "temp" when fully warm on a 62* night.
I thought it would be best to have the gauge operating as accurately as possible because that way I'd have a clue when/if it ever actually got close to overheating. Does it sound like mine's calibrated about right?
I then found an old spare that I had sitting around. I compared the resistance of the two at room temperature, and it was approximately 235 ohms in the spare and 405 ohms in the one I had been using. I then set them both in some water on the stove and heated the water up. I didn't bother to check exactly how hot it was but I would guess it was around 150*. The spare read 37 ohms and the one I'd been using read 63 ohms.
So I decided to just install the spare unit. I didn't use any thread sealer of any kind because I read things online warning against it. It doesn't leak a drop. Now the gauge moves up to the bottom C line when I turn on the key with a cool engine (it probably had some residual heat, but I don't know how much) and points between the T and the E but closer to the E of the word "temp" when fully warm on a 62* night.
I thought it would be best to have the gauge operating as accurately as possible because that way I'd have a clue when/if it ever actually got close to overheating. Does it sound like mine's calibrated about right?
