Erratic Water Temps in '56 Y block

[KULTULZ]

Originally Posted by JimNNN

Have you ever thought about a decent quality mechanical gauge? Originality is nice, but if the engine is original, it would be nice to know precisely what the water temperature is so that the original engine doesn't get damaged. I kept the substandard factory electrical gauge for far too long.

Before installing, you can put the sensor of a mechanical gauge in a pot of water that's just coming to a boil to find out exactly how accurate it is. You can also find out how exactly how much the engine is heating up on summer days after you shut the engine off.

Good idea here. Heat soak amount.

The FYB had the coolant temp sensor located in the wrong spot as it sees only coolant temp coming out of only one bank of cylinder barrels. It does not see the temp gained while crossing the adjoining exhaust valves on cyl(s) #6/7 left bank and #2/3 on the right bank which are hot because of another design flaw.

A mechanical gauge will be much more accurate. The sensor should be located in the front coolant cross-over at the front of the intake manifold.

If you have a BIRD, you need to be aware of other cooling system design flaw(s).