Fighting with engine temp

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68Darthawaii

68Darthawaii

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Have a 68 Dart GT with LA 360. I dropped from a 195 F to 180 F to 160 F thermostat. Daytime, temp gauge stays in the middle during 35-50 mph cruising, almost 3/4 on freeway driving. At night the gauge goes to 3/4 on freeway driving and cruising 35-50 mph. Then if I punch it, the needle goes down a little. She drives fine and engine sounds strong, not pinging, engine seems cool when I stopped and checked. This occured tonight. You guys think my water pump is going????? When I first got the car temp gauge would stay in the middle regardless cruising or freeway, day or night. Then maybe a month later at night it started to go to 3/4 on the temp gauge. Maybe the stock temp gauge is not reading correctly?? Iam putting in some Autometer 2 1/16 in water temp and volt meter gauges this Wednesday. Please advise.

Thanks,
Chad
 
I wouldn't advise running cooler thermostats to address a cooling issue. Unless the gauge is the problem, you probably have a scaled up radiator. Doesn't explain why the engine "seems cool," though.

The engine is designed to run at around 190 for optimal performance. A little hotter is better than cooler, up to a certain point. This helps combustion and lubrication efficiency as well as burning off contaminants in the oil.

Post back after you get a good temp gauge on it...
 
I'd hook up the aftermarker gauges and check the temperature before you invest any more money. Factory gauges can be very inaccurate, speaking from personal experience.
 
My Valiant's original temp gauge wasnt working when I bought her. The fact that I don't know my engine temp made me very nervous...Installed autometer temp gauge that gives me accurate info and most important: peace of mind. That small scale of the original gauge is far from accurate.
 
If the weather cools, or humidity drops, you may be going slightly lean. Lean doesnt always mean pinging, lean will always mean extra heat. get a good gage, watch the weather a bit, and see if there is a correlation. Also, check the plugs. If they are spotlessly clean, try jetting up one number.
 
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