Temperature gauge reading low?

Posted by Nathan in Texas on March 25, 2005 at 07:28:06 from (216.167.183.158):

Okay, I got in a used temperature gauge that was in really good shape and swapped it out last night. Like an idiot I didn't test it before I put it in. I started the tractor up and ran it for about 15 minutes and it didn't even get up into the "cold" range. Outside temperature was about 60 degrees. I turned it off and fluid boiled up out of the radiator cap. :-/

Well, coolant has been coming out of the radiator cap off and on and that is why I wanted to get a working temperature gauge installed. I kept feeling the engine block and it was warm to the touch, but I could hold my hand on it and it actually felt good, I could have kept my hand on it all day long. I took the cap off the radiator and carefully stuck my finger in the coolant. It was fairly hot but I doubt it was over 120 degrees, about the temperature of what you would drink coffee at.

So I took the gauge out and put the old one back in. I heated up some water in the microwave and put the new gauge sensor in it. It went up to the very bottom of the run gauge. The boiling point of water at my elevation is 205 degrees. I'm sure that it cooled down some by the time I got back out to the tractor (I left the gauge in the bracket) so I'm guessing it was between 190 and 200 degrees. Does that sound right for the gauge to read at the bottom of the "run" level?

Lastly I bought some blank gaskets and cut one to fit the radiator cap. I'm hoping this will solve the coolant spilling out when I shut the tractor off. Should I replace the entire cap or will using the 1/32" gasket solve my problem?

Thanks for reading my long winded posts and any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Nathan

Follow Ups:

• Re: Temperature gauge reading low? Hermit 18:24:09 03/25/05 (0)
• Re: Temperature gauge reading low? CNKS 18:17:56 03/25/05 (0)
• Re: Temperature gauge reading low? Allan in NE 08:26:02 03/25/05 (1)
  • Re: Temperature gauge reading low? Nathan in Texas 08:43:06 03/25/05 (0)
• Pic is just an example of the gauge Nathan in Texas 07:41:49 03/25/05 (6)
  • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge Paul Shuler 17:23:21 03/25/05 (0)
  • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge Peabody 08:28:26 03/25/05 (1)
    • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge Allan in NE 08:36:36 03/25/05 (0)
  • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge Shepherd_Bill 08:08:17 03/25/05 (2)
    • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge Nathan in Texas 08:44:30 03/25/05 (1)
      • Re: Pic is just an example of the gauge TomH 16:07:26 03/25/05 (0)

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