If the cooling system seems fine, install a electric fan. That way it lets the water warm up before cooling it, unlike the original fan.

 

If you think about, you'll find that recommendation makes no sense.

With a working thermostat in place, the fan and radiator are not part of the equation until the coolant reaches @160° and the thermostat begins to open.
Matters not what the fan is/isn't doing until that happens.

IMO, the OP needs to install a real temp gauge to see what's really happening, a standard electric VDO can be had for @$30 and will remove the doubt about what the temp really is.

 

i'm still stuck on the term "rally RX7". this could mean anything, could have a stuck open or removed oil thermostat in the oil cooler and/or a bypass plug in the e-shaft keeping the oil too cool and also forcing the engine to take too long to get to operating temperature.

if racing in summer and not driving the car on the street in winter this would be fine.

 

My engine has had the eshaft bypass pellet and until recently, no thermostat in the cooler and it's been fine dailying it year round. In four years I can't say I've seen appreciably longer warm up times because of those mods.

This thread has become stuck until the OP gets a real temp gauge and quits describing his readings as "1/8 up the gauge", which is quite frankly, bullshit.
At this point, no one, including the owner, knows whether there's even a real problem to address.

Just out of curiosity though...OP, are you getting heat in the car?

 

Yeah, where does he think he is?

 

just FYI.. removing thermostat in the oil cooler puts the oil on a bypass without the fins and makes it HOTTER

 

I agree with most of the other users. I need to install a mechanical gauge on the car. I just need to figure out where can I get a good one for a good price.

The only crap they sell around here are Sunpro....

BTW, here is a pick of the dash that my wife took while I was driving so I could check the temperature on google pictures.

 

Nice S4 meter cluster! Looks the same as mine.

 

You don't need a mechanical gauge, a decent electrical will work fine and is a lot easier to install.

 

Any electrical gauge that would have more than 90 degrees of motion?

I cant really find one that will let me see clearly the temperature. They go from 50 degrees to 50 degrees or so per line.

 

electrical gauges mostly come in 90 and 270 degree sweeps. 270's get pricey. A lot of guys who do track days/race get digital meters. I like prosport gauges.

 

This is the gauge I've been using for years:


My car(s) have typically run @190° and that places the needle almost straight up as NORMAL, so that's good.
It's fairly responsive, certainly way more so than stock.
It's cheap as dirt (go to egauges.com).

 

Why are the lines unevenly spaced? What degrees would they represent?

 

I think you're overly concerned with knowing the exact temp, but it's your car. Here's the coolant temp gauge I was talking about.

Digital Water temperature Gauge

 

function of the resistance curve given by the sender.. its logarithmic , and so the display sweep is not linear

.. if this upsets you then get a digital electric send gauge

 

how difficult is that to install? Do you need to tap something to put the sender into ?

Rotary >Pistons

 

Nope, it does not. But I was not aware that some gauges did that. As long as I know what each line is, I can figure out the temperature.


Not overly concerned. Just want to make sure that engine is between safe numbers for proper operation. Thats all.

That is one good looking gauge. I may just hit the credit card and get it