Fitness Stain

I have an 88 TII with some basic elimination, throttle body mod and an FCD.
Before I did anything to this car the temp gauge rarely ever moved...
On hot days it rarely lifted away from the bottom of cold, even while interstate driving.
Now during REAL cold days (15-30 degrees), it never comes away from the peg at the bottom...ever...
it seems to be dead.
its kinda scary cause for all I know the real temperature could be in the redzone...
I need to do some work with my cooling system, I already know, but surely that wouldnt cause the gauge to not read at all

I guess I should just get and aftermarket gauge, which im sure I will soon, but Im just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to why it doesnt move at all.
Since doing the throttle body mod, and removing the cold start, I dont want to really "get on it" if the car hasnt reached operating temperature, cause I know that cant be good.
By the way does anyone know about how long it takes a TII to get to optimal temperature after a long sit.
Say I park at work, and 6 hours later Im gonna race some dude home on the interstate....how long should I wait for the car to warmup before I can feel safe in a full throttle situation....
I just dont want to harm my engine....

thanks for reading this stupid post
=-dustin

StarionX

It'll depend on the ambient temperature, and whether you let it idle before driving away.

Assuming it's about 32F, and you drive away as soon as you start it up ( I would really recommend letting it idle for at least a minute though), 10 minutes of easy driving (not including waiting at lights). That might seem like a long time, but you are talking about driving at WOT straight after warming it up. But hey, if you don't mind rebuilding your engine, why not just floor it out of the parking lot, cold.

NZConvertible

The first thing to check is if the wire has fallen off the gauge sender. It's a small sensor located under the oil filter and next to the much bigger oil pressure gauge sender. If you have a Haynes manual it's shown in photo 10.1 on page 106. It has a yellow wire with a black stripe.

HAILERS

Self explanatory jpg attached. Just skip their breakout box and just put the resistor on the end of the wire and then to a ground(good ground). Resistor cost: 50 cents or less. See picture for values. Self explanatory?????

A free manual is online at http://www.iluvmyrx7.com

rx_7_driver

do u have thermostat (sp?)? i removed mine on my old 87 cause it got stucked closed, and whenever the temp got around 40* or lower the gauge wouldn't even get off the C

hope this helps, i would check the thermostat 2nd after the gauge is checked

-Shawn

Fitness Stain

yeah,
i dont want to blow the engine obviously.
I was just curious as to how long it would take all in all...
thanks for the posts
=-Dustin