<<My question for Bill and the list is this. I don't run oil temp gauges...
yet. This ain't Texas either - but we do have a couple of months of
90-95-degree mountain climbing every summer - along with some stop-start
traffic - and I've never had any MGB temp gauge even approach the "H" on a
reasonably well-maintained car - even a couple cars without oil coolers. Now,
is there a danger that even with the coolant temp well in the"N" range that
one could still be cooking the oil? Convince me of that and I'll install an
oil temp gauge.>>
1. - I don't think anyone needs an extra gauge (unless you are one of those
guys that likes tons of them. I knew a guy once that was so taken with his new
vacuum gauge and how it could improve his gas mileage, that he was looking at
that instead of the garbage truck that stopped right in front of him. Have to
save a lot of gas to pay for those repairs!)
2. - I do think that many or even all MGB owners, and most MGA (Twincams and
late Mk2s excepted) need to consider replacing the cooler if someone has
removed it, or installing one on a late car. The standard height cooler will
not usually cause a problem with not warming up quickly enough, but if that
particular bee inhabits your bonnet, then you can buy a thermostatic bypass
valve that only routes through the cooler when things are up to temperature.
3. - I have seen engines that ran no more than 210 deg. water but ran 250+
oil. I had an MGA 1600 engine that must have had some casting imperfection
that ran far hotter even with a cooler than it had any right to. When it
finally hit the bone pile with a rod through the block, I replaced it with one
that ran 220 deg. oil no matter what (with the cooler).
Bill
So water temp may be some indication of problems, but from my experience, you
can still have fairly good coolant temp and have out of hand oil temp.
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