What are stock s4 temp and oil gauges supposed to read?
 

I've had my 86 gxl for about a year and a half, and the gauges have always read like this:
the temp gauge warms up to halfway, then stays there unless under REALLY hard driving, or at a stop while revving the engine up to 5-7k for 30 or 40 seconds and then it'll raise just a LITTLE, but let it back to idle and it cools right down.
the oil pressure gauge reads 30 at idle and 60 when driving, regardless of the type of driving.

are these readings the way theyre supposed to be? thanks guys.

my oil pressure, NEVER rises above 60 and i mean never.....maybe just a tad under WOT, but rarely even then does it raise past 60...its chills at 30 for idle...
as far as the temp goes.....atleast your guage raises to the middle....mine never comes any where near hot....infact it barely raises above C after i have been driving on the interstate for 10-20 mins...
i hope some good info comes from this thread...
=-dustin


just my situation

Seems like some people think the temp gauge should stay below half way. Mine has shot up to halfway from the first day I had it. As a matter of fact; all three of my cars which are MAZDAS read half way on the temp gauge and they all run fine. One 626 has 196,000 miles, the other 626 has 160.000 miles and the 7 has a little over 90,000 miles. I always just assumed that half way on any cars temp gauge was normal operating temperature. I also thought that most cars needed to be within this normal range for proper performance and that some cars would perform worse if the temps were to low. And there is always the possibility of the stock gauge being a good bit off.

Your oil pressure readings are normal.

good to know my oil P. readings are proper. the main reason i started this thread is that ive seen lots of different opinions as to what the stock temp gauge should read, and i was hoping i could get a difinitve answer from a "guru" maybe icemark or dcfc3s?

same here....
i also thought that most cars would read about half way on the temp guage, which is why my temp guage is scarring me...
its never moves....
:(

Temp gauges that never move arent really gauges at all. they're a reason to install an aftermarket gauge before you EVER drive your car HARD AT ALL, go easy on her until you get a working gauge- i blew a coolant line while driving a friends rx7- between the block and the heater core, and the temp shot up like CRAZY! luckily, MY low coolant buzzer went off, but yours might not! and then it'd be rotary toast! jsut get it checked out! or better yet, install an aftermarket gauge and be sure!

my temp guage works quite well. it runs cold in the morning until after about 10 minutes of driving. then it warms up to a little above the bottom lines. When it gets hot it rises to the middle but the fan usually keeps it cool enough to get home before it goes all the way to the top. that only happens when i forget to add coolant. hope that helps

anyone else? as many voices her as possible please!

how hard is it to install an aftermarket temp guage.....
keep in mind that i dont know alot about anything...this forum has helped me in so many ways i wont even count, and this is just one more thing to ask about....heffboost has really helped me out my boost guage...

come on guys, how about some more opinions/experience, i'd love to know if my car is running too hot ALL of the time. :)

I personally think halfway up is too hot... How new is the thermostat and is it OEM?


I just replaced my thermostat with a OEM one, and mine reaches 1/4 way up but never gets to halfway, no matter how hard I rev or drive it.

About 2 or 3 years ago, my car was starting to allow for the temp to rise to the halfway mark. I found my clutch fan was going bad.. I replaced it with a Efan and 1/4 is where it stays....

My oil pressure maxes out between 60-100psi, and usually sits around 60 unless I am idling, then it drops to around 30 or just below, but I have a rebuilt engine and it used to read differently with my old engine. For the temp guage, I used to read at between 1/4 to 1/2 when I had a cheap stant thermostat in there, I have since switched back to the OEM Mazda one and it read at just above the line for most driving, but goes up to about 1/4 when I go over a mountain pass.

Keeping your motor as cool as possible will keep it running as long as possible. Heat dries out and cracks the water o-rings and when that happens, a new engine is needed.

My stock temp gauge goes to the middle when completely warmed up no more no less. As for my stock oil pressure gauge: Idle 30 psi WOT never over 60 psi.

Will a ported motor affect Oil Pressure?