Hi all, I just got my 94corvette last Sat. And was wondering if you guys could help me out. I had to drive it 4 hours to get home and it seemed to work fine out on the highway. But in town the temp gauge get up there in the danger zone. But the digital gauge reads almost 40 degrees cooler. Going by the digital i can here the fan kick on about 230. This is town driving. Is that were it should kick on and what is the normal running temp. All im used to is my Buick GS and it runs around 190 highway and 210 in town. And my 2ed question is the information center mine has a solid peice of black plactic in front of it.How hard are these to change? And what all are they suposed to tell you?

 

LT1's are strung pretty tight. They're gonna' run warm in town. 230 fan trip is [sm=smiley20.gif].

Guage discrepancy is uncool. Get the radiator shop to put the laser guided smart guage on the hoses to check the #'s.

Info center should look like a Christmas tree 'til you pull the trigger on the motor. Then the airbag lightwill flash, and the seatbelt too (buckle down!!!). Whatcha' gotta' change about it?

 

Mine has a solid black peice of plactic covering it. The original face plate is gone so i dont know if its working right or not.

 

When you turn the key on (before starting), you should have a dozen indicators lit up, til you start the motor. Then they go out. And stay out (cross yer fingers, and yer little piggies too[sm=smiley30.gif]).

Whatcha' got on yers?

 

nothing. If i slide the the cover out of the way a can see the lights behind it. I think i better replace this it sound like it shoud be in working condition.

 

I can't remember the stock fan settings for sure, but I'm thinking that the second fan kicks on at around 228-230. Before then, the primary fan should already be on. Regardless though, find someone who can edit your PCM and have them set to come on earlier. I use a racing radiator with a built-in oil cooler, an electric water pump, a 180 degree thermostat (stock is 195 on LT1s) and have the fans set at 185 and 200 degrees. Needless to say, this keeps her very happy and has also greatly reduced underhood and oil temperatures too. (I've also taken steps to increase airflow into and out of the engine compartment.) Oil temps are just barely higher than coolant temps now. It used to get up past 260 during a long duration, all-out run in the mountains, for example. Oil temps now rarely exceed 210 and stay under 200 in normal driving. Remember, oil not only lubricates your engine but helps cool it too. In fact it's the only thing carrying heat away from any parts below the water jackets. Until or unless you add an oil cooler, stay with synthetic oil in your LT1. These cars should have had oil coolers to begin with. For a stocker that will not see sustained hard use, altering the fan settings and keeping everything in your cooling system in top shape will suffice and your engine will thank you for it.

 

I would feel much better running temp. like that. I think firrst thing will be to go get it tested and see witch temp. gauge is right. Do both gauges use the same kind of senser? I was looking to see what they cost and only 1 temp senser was listed.

 

That would be correct as there's only one sensor. It's for the computer and it's what the digital readout shows too. The analog gauge gets it's signal from a sending unit on the right side head. It's easy to spot, it's between the 3rd and 4th exhaust ports on the LT1 and uses only one wire. The temperature sensor is up front screwed into the water pump. It uses a weather-tight two wire connector.

 

How many miles on your box when it used to run this hot there, notorious? Did you buy it new? Was the tune good then? Did you do other tune stuff that also might have brought the operating temps down?

 

Are you talking about my previous oil temps? 260 is not at all unusual in an LT1 during sustained, all out use. I've seen guys report up to 300 on the track. I wouldn't do it, I wasn't crazy about hitting 260 or so during all out runs of 10 minutes or so, basically either full throttle or full on the brakes at all times. Although synthetic oil can handle these temps, there's no reason to do it IMO. Oil coolers are not expensive or difficult to add. At the time in question, my engine was still pretty close to stock, only making about 350 HP with a cam upgrade, 1.6 RRs and higher compression pistons being about it. And aside from the EWP, the cooling system was still pretty much unmodified too. Proper PCM tuning has always been maintained for every given mod level. Thankfully I've been able to afford to build this car for probably even more durability than I'll likely ever require. But that's okay because I like overkill. All aspects of the oiling system have been massaged, a 7 qt. road racing pan, the aforementioned watercooled oil cooler, all forged and lightweight bottom end components, ARP internal and head bolts, an ATI Super Damper, true double roller timing set, (which you can add to the LTx engines if you get rid of the mechanically driven water pump) top shelf and reasonably light valve train components and so on. This engine could easily live with frequent bursts of 7000 RPM or more. But with the cam I'm using it makes maximum HP at just under 6000. It's not the baddest NA LTx engine by far, I didn't build it to be. I did build it to make good, reliable and very streetable power and to be very efficient while doing so. I drive it daily and have lots of fun with it. I race it some but nothing too serious. Again, just for fun. I hope it will outlive me and at my age, it just might. And keeping everything cool will go a long way towards insuring that. Apologies to the OP for the direction this thread has taken. But hopefully I've steered it back close to the original subject, cooling these cars and it's importance for a reliable and long life. They just run a little too damned hot as they come from the factory. This was done to maximize good emission levels of course. But for the serious enthusiast, and especially for anyone who plans to fully enjoy the cars potential once in awhile, it's not hard to make little changes that will make a big difference.