Lamco oil temp gauge/sensor

[viperguy]

Hello all,

I've just installed my original Lamco oil temp sensor in the drain plug location (since it was oil change day), car is a GF8.
However I've found it hard to get a consensus from online sources as to what the expected operating values are (with so many people having to resort to aftermarket sensors), as I went for a very spirited long drive ie 60km of B-roads, and never saw temps rise above ~90C with ~70C being the norm during mild sections and normal town driving (ambient temp was ~20C).

I have the Torque app and coolant temps reported by ECU were reported as consistently ~83C-ish during normal driving (though i wasn't keeping an eye on this during the spirited driving).
So I cant imagine what kind of environment would lead to the gauge reading 120C-130C which is well within its range (tracking the car in 40C temps maybe?). The Lamco manual isnt helpful as it just says expected temps are the result of the environment...

Anywho, does anyone have an original sensor in the drain plug location and can confirm I'm in the ballpark for expected values? I'm fairly confident the sensor/gauge combo is OK as I stuck it in a jug of hot water just off the boil (well as quickly as I could get it outside to the car) and got a reading of 90C-95C in the weeks prior to actually installing it in the car.

Edited January 3 by viperguy

[Joker]

ooh it's a haze of those days when I cared about that stuff hah, yeah 90 sounds about right?

 

A tapped Drain plug is also the coolest spot? (heat rises) and ya getting max airflow / cooling in the area too if you've not got a undertray too

[viperguy]

Indeed, I know its not the most accurate spot, but purity and all that. I'm not too concerned about absolute precision (otherwise Subaru would instruct differently ie cylinder 3 gallery plug), more just gauging that I'm in line with other systems considering all this stuff is almost 30 years old

 

I still wonder how in the heck it could ever read 120-130+ in that location though...

[Gripless]

Oil temp over 110c is f***ed.
90c seems fine for the sump.

Few options for those high readings.

1) each brand as different response curve for the sensor, so it could just be different sensor gauge combo. Even different generations of the same product can vary.

2) Maybe they have the same gauge but different sensor. Or the aren’t running it in the sump and have it tee’d off the head etc.

 

3) there gauge is broken. Could be needle is physically out or alignment, or internal component worn. 

 

4) if it’s really old type where the sensor has what looks like a coil spring the whole length of the cable another heat source along the way like headers or turbo can throw it off. You may need to sleeve it in something too reduce the heat along its path and get a true reading.