Why is a oil temp gauge needed? | Ford Explorer Forums

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Why is a oil temp gauge needed?

RiverRat

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San Diego, Ca
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1996 V8 Ranger 4x4
This may be a stupid question but if you have a coolant temp gauge why would you also need/want a oil temp gauge?
 






Becuase a water temp gauge won't read when there is no water in the engine..

This is why I had to replace my heads and 2nd tranny.. The motor got hot enough to melt some of the hard parts in the front of the tranny....

The water pump seal went, and the water dropped otu fast... fast enough that the temp never went up...

I knew it was hot when I "smelled" the motor.. If I had an oil temp gauge I would have seen that go up and would have stopped much sooner...

That is #2 on my lift of gauges to add.. (#1 is tranny temp)..

~Mark
 






a couple reasons I can think of.

1) although the coolant temp may be up to op temp, the oil takes much longer to rise. The engine really isnt warmed up until the oil is warm.

2.) oil running hotter than normal can point to some internal problems that might not show up on the coolant temp - usually more of a concern if you rebuild and modify the engine. Mark has a good example - extreme but good.

I think on an internally modified engine (pistons,cams, S/C etc) I would most definately run one. Stock maybe - it would provide some added information that is useful.
I dont have one on my Navajo, but I have run them on other modified vehicles with built engines to see how Im doing.
 






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