possessed temp gage

[azruss]

When i restored the car, I picked the best of 4 temp gages I had. Everything went fine until several months ago. It would read fine, then gradually increase, then drop down again. I just thought the stat was opening and beginning to stick. It would also jump 20 degrees when I turned the lights on....ground issue?
So lately, it would get to temp and stay there a while, then start to go up and would peg in less than 30 seconds. Increase was too fast for it to be a cooling issue. I stuck my finger under the dash and wiggled the gage wiring and it would immediately drop down to normal and start the whole process over again. Now when it dropped, it showed a lower temp than it every had before. 195 vs 185. So i replaced the gage with one of my spares. Now the temp sits at 185 and steady as a rock.

[baltobernie]

Those cheap infrared handhelds from Harbor Freight and others are a great sanity check. I carry one in my tool kit.

[nelsonj]

Now the temp sits at 185 and steady as a rock.

You must have one of Mark's electric water pumps!!!

Snark.

[azruss]

Funny, Snark! When I built the car, the entire cooling system was refreshed with block, head, and heater cleaned. New radiator, water pump, stat, and hoses. I used a flat file to true the flange of the heater pipe. Drilled a bleed hole in the stat and added a fill port in the top heater hose. The result was factory fresh cooling system. It has surprised me how well in works in the Arizona blast furnace. If there is ever an issue it is in the balmy winters where the temps can get down to freezing. The car never really gets to temp and have even considered putting a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator on such occasions.