Engine temp?

We took the wagon on our first longish trip this weekend. Overall the car ran and drove great! I noticed before I changed the coolant, hoses and thermostat(180*) that the temp gauge seemed to read on the lower side. While on the trip which was mostly highway driving at 70-75mph the gauge never went above about 1/4 of the way up in 90* plus weather. The wife says that this about where the gauge has been reading in the past couple weeks since she started driving the car everyday.
I'm not overly concerned that there is an actual problem, I am guessing that this is about where it should be reading... It's just different from what I am accustomed to on most vehicles where the temp gauge reads right in the middle at normal operating temperature.

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My 94 Caprice Wagon temperature gauge sits exactly where yours is. It has for 10 years.

Tom

I drove mine three hours home yesterday and the temp crept up over halfway when going up hills. Think I should probably flush the radiator and see if that helps.

Norm wrote:

I drove mine three hours home yesterday and the temp crept up over halfway when going up hills. Think I should probably flush the radiator and see if that helps.

I wouldn't get too concerned about that as it is in the normal range.  You also have a different engine.

Flushing probably is not a bad idea, as the car is new to you and you don't know it's history.

Tom

It was creeping up into the red. I stopped and noticed the radiator res was low. I added some coolant and that seemed to do the trick.

silverfox103 wrote:

My 94 Caprice Wagon temperature gauge sits exactly where yours is.  It has for 10 years.

Tom

Cool Thanks!

Norm wrote:

It was creeping up into the red. I stopped and noticed the radiator res was low. I added some coolant and that seemed to do the trick.    

low coolant can do that. Keep an eye on it for a small leak...

my 96 RMW does a similar thing - except on occasion when stuck in traffic in the dead of summer, then it's creeped up to over halfway...
On the 96s (i forget if other years also have this) but on the temperature gauge part you can access some of the engine readouts like RPM, and coolant temp - when i first saw mine doing it i freaked a little thinking i was about to have a serious problem... pulled up the digital readout and saw it was going as high as 198-201 at times.
Also, for those with a 96 model whatever, you can also get an inexpensive ODB II reader and plug that in and monitor a bunch of stats on a smart phone app on the fly. Probably the biggest plus imo to owning a 96 over older years

Late to this thread, but I have bought 2 odb2 readers that work on all the family cars except my 96 RMW. I would love to get one that works. Can you recommend a source?

Thank you

Tom

the ODBii reader I have uses the app inCarDoc on my iphone - believe there's an android equivalent too? forget if the actual device has a different name - mine looks like a little white box
so far it's worked on every 96 or newer vehicle i've plugged it into - and that's quite a few since i've been car shopping for a while

it looks like this - except you'll see i also have an extension cable attached to it (separate purchase)

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Damn, I was in Clearwater last week. Please let me know which reader you bought when you get a chance. PM is fine. Email is fine. Pic would be appreciated. I am 0 for 2 on the Roadmaster, 2 for 2 on everything else. Meantime I will try to connect that app to the reader I still have.

Tom