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Temp Gauge Movement

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Musicman

Musicman

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Today, after a nice 40 or so mile drive, I checked temps at various areas under the hood and all was great. I was using an infrared sensor type thing. The thing is, do any of you out there experience this? As we know, our 6's will get a bit on the warm side while sitting idling like in some traffic or whatever. The thing is though that while my temp needle did rise a bit past the half mark while letting it idle in the garage the temps under the hood for the most part stayed steady. Of course once I'm cruising again the temp needle will then drop to the left of the mid point.
 
David, it sounds normal to me. The temp sender is reading a measurement at a specific area. On my TR4 I've found that taking a temperature reading with the infrared thermometer at the housing in which the sender is mounted is inaccurate due to the aluminum housing. The upper radiator hose seems to give the most accurate reading.
Bob
 
Can you guys tell me how much your infrared thermometer cost. I'm looking to get one and I see Sears has one for about $75. I'm wondering if this price will get me a decent one. Thanks
 
Radio Shack also has one for about $40 (battery extra). Check the specs on the HF one before you run out and buy it. They try to make it's accuracy appear better by specifying it in degrees C instead of F.

IR thermometers aren't always that accurate and as mentioned above, a lot depends on the surface you aim it at. Without digging up old college courses, it has to do with the emissivity of the surface and as mentioned, flat black surfaces make better targets than metallic or polished surfaces.
 
Sears on sale, $50, nice!
 
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