1968 Dart cooling system & gauge Questions

With respect to the air through the radiator, idling and stop and go traffic is the worst. Perhaps only exaserbated by a long interstate or mountain driving before being brought to a standstill. A well fitted fan shroud does wonders. I ran without one for a couple of long periods and watching the gage rise while stuck in those situations is never comfy. Then turning on the heater fan to get some more cooling leaves even the coolest of us in a sweat.

Stopping the engine will cause a rise in the coolant temperature. Opening the hood helps but a portion of the engine heat will first go into the oil and coolant.

In fact the temperature rise after stopping is mentioned in the later Operator or Owners Manuals

1967 Barracuda
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1975 Valiant
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1977 Aspen
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Thank you for posting this info! So it would appear that the middle of the temp gauge is considered to be its normal operating range then.. this is a great site because of folks like you sharing info.