I own a firebird and have the firebird temp guage. I could never tell how hot I am running. With 180 thermo the car runs two to one line behind 220. Now I am hearing that 180 is the middle line?? I just have no idea of what to do. My whole cooling system is new, including the heater core, new waterneck I mean the whole deal. Now I attributed some of my heat to headders, and when I am done with a longer trip and lift the hood the motor is not nearly as hot as it was with the manifolds???
I just dont know what to think. So, i figured out that maybe some of you guys can post some picks indicating where temps are on those little lines??
Please!!. Thanks!!

 

Other than telling you what I've read a hundred times on this forum, "The stock temp gauge is notoriously inaccurate," I can also tell you that my needle runs at the same place. I'm still running a 195* stat though.

I'll get a pic up soon that shows my gauge at normal operating temp.

 

Here is my temp guage at normal operating temperature. My car normally rides at this temp pretty much all the time. No complaints really. The one thing that always gets me is when it is first warming up. The needle actually goes over the 220* mark and then the thermostat kicks in and drops it (rapidly) to what you see here:

 

Thats where mine is with 180 thermo. It opens up righ at 220 and drops down to that. Than it goes a bit higher, but when its cooler outside its a notch lower than the pic..
Do you think that I could possibly rerout the wires from that guage to a brand new temp guage I bought, or do you guys think that Ill have to do the new guages wiring as well. Which calls for a sensor on the waterneck??!!?!

Thanks a lot for the PIC it helps a lot with my peace of mind.

 

I wouldn't sweat it really. Just watch the gauge regularly and any needle activity right of straight up would be where you might have concern.

If you've already bought another gauge, someone else (Like the Joker maybe) can tell you how to wire it. Frankly, I don't see the benefit of takingyour dash apart just for this.

Glad I could help.

 

I was just thinking of routing the wires from the original guage to the new one. This way the new one will tell me exactly where the temp is. Now if the wires are not up to par the resistance might change the temp reading???
Hmmm, I'll try to get up with Trickster and see what he thinks.

Thanks for the help bro!!

 

my firebird does the same kind of thing , except that even with my fan i put in with a manual switch it still overheats.... only in traffic or hot days...expressway is fine...i used to drive 5 miles to work , and by the time i got there parked and got out , my overflow tank would be boiling over and steam coming from under the hood. I checked the anti freeze mixture , if it was flowing which it was , and i do have to shroud on along with the air deflector underneath. this thing has me stumped. it pins the needle at stoplights , and a half mile down the road its at normal , and boiling when i park it. what can you tell me about that?

 

The answer is in your description of how your firebird over heats at idle and low speeds and then cools down as the car gets moving. It's an air flow problem. If it was a water flow problem , it would over heat at more or less the same rate regardless of vehicle speed. Like everyone has said before check to make sure the air dam is in in place. It helps direct the flow of air not just at speed but at idle too. This is especially important on the firebird because like the corvette it's a bottom breather and without the airdam it's almost a guaranty that your going to get some or alot of air recirculating from the higher pressure hot side to the lower pressure infront of the rad. This also a piece located between the the lower open and the radiator that helps direct the air flow thur the radiator. Hope this helps.

 

I have a 92 Firebird temp always runs around 220. atleast thats what the guage says. Having the engine replaced right now and i havent seen the engine since its been out the car but they said it had some signs of overheating. Dont know if its just a cronic problem , guages , or just bad luck and mine happened to really be overheating. But THe guages i really dont give alot of trust. Also if you cant stop the overheating problem may want to check into a functional cowl hood or some other open hood scoop. Thats if you want one and cant figure out why its overheating.