Amsoil Zrod 10W-30

I just installed an electric oil temperature gauge (autometer) and have a 24" stainless braided line running from the oil filter housing (the fitting on the passenger side, not the one on the rear of the housing that points diagonally down) up next to the passenger engine mount where there is a T fitting and the oil temperature sender and pressure sender are mounted

It was about 65 here this evening when I went for a drive and after 15 minutes the temperature never got over 140 degrees

The illumination on the gauge curretly isn't wired. The ignition for the electric stepper is wired in with an add-a-fuse to the gauge cluster fuse on the interior fuse box. The ground for the gauge is grounded to the 10mm bolt near the interior fuse panel right behind where the hood latch cable runs. The sender is just a straight wire to the sender unit in the engine bay.

The whole thing is wired with 18 gauge wire, properly soldered and heat-shrunk

The only thing I can think of:
-the gauge is working properly (I have the electric oil pressure at home but haven't plugged it in to test it and won't be home until Thursday (it's all wired just no place to mount it)) and it's just too cold outside
-it's wired improperly and 140 degrees is the "default" temperature when the gauge has power
-the stainless line is blocked. I know the fitting coming out of the oil filter housing isn't blocked and I know the t fitting isn't blocked; I can't imagine the stainless line is blocked but I never blew through it to quick-test it or anything. It doesn't have any visual kinks in it from installing like the inner bladder came unattached from the line or anything

I suppose tomorrow morning I'll be able to deduce something if the car has been sitting all night and the gauge reads 140 when I first turn the car on, but I'm trying to figure out more what others typically see with their electric oil temp gauges and maybe if I installed something incorrectly

 

update:

this is after a 15 mile drive; 4 miles on roads and 11 on freeway

car off:


accessories on:


the second picture is as high as the gauge ever read

when i went out to the car this morning the gauge was reading the same temperature

could it be that the sending units aren't properly grounded due to being attached to the remote sending line as opposed to mounted directly onto the oil filter housing?

 

Its not working.

 

Helpful. I've gathered that much

Through reading I've gathered that the sending unit might not be properly grounded because the Teflon sealant I used (or the stainless line) might be preventing a good ground. Going to try wiring in a dedicated ground for the sending unit tomorrow and see how it goes

 

My gauge goes to 180'f when at temperature check ur wiring i dont think its the teflon i used teflon on both my sending units and they work perfect.

 

I'll be home tomorrow and able to rip it apart to check the wiring. the only wiring I'm not confident in is the sender and ground wire, it's possible I switched them or something but the ground is the same ground I had used before for the illumination (which isn't hooked up as of now) and it worked without incident. I'll also be hooking up the oil pressure gauge just to test and see if that sender is working..maybe the temp sender went out, who knows..

 

Hey man, I'll report because we basically have the same setup.
I'm curious (cause I don't know for sure or did any research to figure it out) if off the filter housing like our setups is also post oil cooler?
The highest I've seen on my gauge is 140F, but that's after like a 30min drive.
My OE gauge in the pan only saw 40-80C ~(100-180F)... I'm thinking since the temps are the same, but the position of measurement is different that the cooler is cooling the oil back down to minimal levels of the oil temp gauge.

 

What size is the ss line leading to the senders? That type of setup is good for a pressure reading but I think its messing up the temp reading. Theres either not enough oil in contact with the temp sensor or the oil is actually cooling as it travels up the line. I would install the temp sensor directly into the filter housing in the other port.

Another thing to note...the oil takes a while to heat up. For the needle to even start moving it usually takes about 10min of driving AFTER the water temp is up to normal. In weather below 70deg it takes even longer sometimes.

When i installed my temp gauge, the instructions specified an engine ground as opposed to a chassis ground. I grounded to to the top of the intake manifold. Check your instructions again to see the specific grounding instructions.

So those are a few things to consider. good luck

Oh and when I had the oil temp sensor installed in the filter housing I would routinely see 180F at full temp (after a good 25 min of driving) and up to 200F if beating it or on very hot days

 

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/10054939-post7.html

running that exact setup (I actually purchased it from GTijoejoe as he ordered enough to make two)

I'll see later if the oil pressure gauge is working; if it is at least I can deduce that the sending line is functioning properly (i know it's not leaking)

Yog, when you say you grounded to the top of the intake manifold, do you mean the gauge or the sending unit? my sending unit is not grounded at all currently as the instructions stated that it should ground itself through the threads, but i'm not sure if the SS line is insulating it or something like that

 

That's good to know.
It hasn't been hot enough for me to see any temp increase yet, normally my OE system was like 50c, hot days 80-90C.. I haven't seen higher than 140F yet with my setup.

 

Running a prosport premium with my temp sensor at the drain plug, running mobil 1 10w30 Full syn. Warming up I wont see them needle move. It takes about 5 minutes before the needle will move. After driving on the highway, it never gets about 180F for me.

 

Well I hooked up the oil pressure gauge and it's working just fine, idled at...low pressure but that was 10 minutes after my commute home so I'd consider it normal, probably 8psi or so

I'll have to keep looking into the temp gauge, I only have two gauge slots right now so I can't run a third anyways, but when the time comes I'll update

 

Tried to send something last night-- couple of things, the teflon tape could be an issue but just leave threads exposed on the sensors and that will take care of itself. Somone one mentioned grounding to the intake? Dont ground to aluminum if you avoid it--not a great ground. as for the temps-- I found I had to drive for 20-30 min at speed for my vdo gauges to register-- you really need to go drive the car. your just not allowing it to get to temp. my
.02

 

^ i'm using high-heat teflon sealant, not teflon tape. someone made a good point that if tape happens to "break off" inside the line it could jam something, sealant will just dissolve in with the oil

I figured that my 30 min afternoon commute (14-15 miles of it are by freeway) would have been enough to at least register something (70* outside here today) but when i got home it was still on 140* so i pulled the temp gauge and replaced it with the pressure gauge (hooked up to a T fitting on the same sending line) and it worked fine so I have that one in there for now instead (frankly, more important than oil temp)