GTE water temperature

[Rudy van Daalen Wetters]

I would like to get some feedback on a typical running water temperature
and oil temperature for the GTE.

Thanks,

Rudy van Daalen Wetters

[tyang]

Hi Rudy,

I have not had the chance to drive my car in extreme heat, but the water temps seem to run at about 90 degrees centegrade. The oil temps hardly move until at least 20 minutes of driving, and very little at that! Again, the true test of hot weather driving has yet to be done in my car. Yale, who owns a 330 2+2 may have more insight as he probably drives his car more than anyone!

Tom

[Michael Bayer]

Rudy: If the radiator is clean and clear and all else in good repair, the engine temp ought to hold spot on that of the thermostat (I am a fan of 165 F, not the 180Fs most guys run) while (and only while) the car is underway in nearly all outside temps. In traffic there are too many variables, see this and Kerry's site for tips on attacking 330 engine overheating woes in traffic! I agree with Tom, the oil temp takes forever to warm to the engine temp and again, all else in good repair and the car underway, the oil temp will with long lags, approximate the engine temp. Michael Bayer

[Yale]

Ah yes water temp issues. I have a 330GT which is known as a fairly hot running engine. I don't know how this compares to the GTE. I know that when I picked up the car from Francois' shop the first time I got one of those understated Gallic statements to the effect of don't let the water temp get past the mark after 90c. Almost said as an aside I still took it to mean there would be hell to pay with my wallet if this direction was ignored.

When I first got the car I couldn't get over what one was expected to know as a matter of course. There was no red line for instance on the water temp gauge, nothing to let you know that you could trespass in forbidden territory, nor was it apparent that if you get stuck in traffic it would be a good idea to put on the electric fuel pump or you may get vapour lock. (I learned this at the mouth of the Holland Tunnel of course, couple of passersby offered to push me out of the way, and pushed on the aluminium trunk lid, ouch!)

Anyway when I first got the car the possibility of overheating was a constant presence. I live in New York City and if I drove the car off the highway and ten blocks through traffic lights, much less traffic the car used to get close to overheating unless I shut it off. Very scary. I remember Tom repeating the old Enzo canard, well maybe if you are overheating you just need to pull over and get something to eat until the traffic clears yea right. In the 21st century this is just not possible.

Anyway Francois tried to tackle the problem by installing a Daytona fan. This did next to nothing. So after some web research I settled on installing a Ken Lowe fan (www.kenlowe.com). Nowadays no matter how bad the traffic situation is, or how humid or hot, ( and I have driven in 98 degree weather and gotten stuck in a two mile traffic jam), those twin fans just cycle on and off every time the water temp hits 90c.

As for oil temp, I never saw this needle move in any appreachable way until I took the car on the track. It was rockin and rollin then.

Best,

Yale

[enio45]

Yale,

I did at one time look at the kenlowe fans - - can u tell me the model of the one you got and is it installed on the front (Grill side) of the radiator or on the engine side?

Did you have to do any mods......did you have to install a new temp switch and fan relay switch?

Sorry for all the questions- im in the process now to decide what and how to replace the original fan with something more efficient.

[xs10shl]

In looking through my driving notes, I see that my 250 GTL (tipo 168) idles in heavy traffic with water temp @ 165F (75C) and oil temp @ 220F (105C). While driving, water temp stays constant @ 165F, and oil temp drops to 190F (87C). These readings seem to be at slight odds with what others are posting, particularly in the area of oil temp matching water temp, and that the engine is apparently running too hot. It's an older engine design, w/o the benefit of electric fans, so perhaps I'll look into installing an electric fan to be safe. I'll have to check the temp thermostats to see if they are reading properly, and go from there.

[Yale]

Ed I really only remember that I got twin 13" fans (not the high amp ones Ken Lowe has) and they are fitted on the front of the radiator and are not viewable when you look in the engine compartment of my Series 1 330GT. They cycle on automatically when the temp gauge hits slightly above 90c. They are a life saver. Best, Yale