I went with them because I can get them locally. I have the Sunpro white face gauges in the 88 but the black faces match the 70 better. My 70 ran between 175-185, about a 10 degree difference between morning and afternoon but this car still has the solid fan, soon to be electric. I have a feeling in summer heat it would run just under 200 degrees at highway speed. It showed 178 idiling after a good 1/2 hour drive this summer with them temp gun. The 260's oil pressure is more of a problem. I am running 5W30 Defy with a 1/2 liter of ATF and the oil has a few thousand km on it. It has 50 and 20-25 cold at idle. At temp 15 psi and 0 at idle. There is not a tick or knock of any kind. I am wondering if maybe this motor is sludged up? I have never seen an Olds motor without at least seepage at the gaskets, there is 0. I have flush and may try Seafoam or STP treatment to help flush. Has anyone used GM engine flush, if it is still available? It used to be really good. I still plan on driving it this summer maybe with 5W50 synthetic, to boost pressure. I am running that weight in the Tercel and will be in the Challenger due to oil leakage and straight burning in the Challenger's case. Hopefully that will cut consumption. Either way not a long term engine and must still have decent compression to run this good.

 

Dude, you're kinda rambling.

I love Canadian Whiskey too.

Equus gauges are probably just fine. Better than nothing at all.

Personally, I would not use any kind of engine cleaner. I don't want stuff in my old engine to get loose and clog up something else, so I let that ride.

 

I drove with a 307 in my 72 a whole summer and oil psi would bearly be at 5 . it would maybe se 25 at higher rpms. I beat the living $hit out of that 307. I even raced an early 90's camaro and beat it lol. I just used 20 w 50 from the baragin bin and it never quit. I sold it to my buddy and he put it in a demo derby car ., he yanked it and gave it to another derby guy lol. GOOP that F**ker up with some 20 w50 .

Im running one eqqus temp gauge actually. It was temporary and its been in there 3 years now. It likes to stick but once its at temp it seems to work fine. Im not too worried about it.

 

My first 350 was totally plugged in the oil pump screen. It was full of timing chain plastic bits and gasket crap. Oil can seals and even paper towel like material.

With the light on at idle, it lasted at least a year with 20/50.

If you're in this situation, its only a band aid. Your engine will need total rebuild sooner or later.

 

Do not put anything in your Challenger other than whats spec'd in your owners manual. The engine will not run correctly due to the sensors getting screwed up. I assure you it will have issues.

I would first try a known good mechanical gauge in place of the Equus and see if they are accurate. There have been issues in the past with sending units not being correct.

 

he said the oil psi issues was on the 260 the challenger was leakage . i think it was mentioned as more of an example. I run 20 w 50 in my 2000 dodge durango as the miles are high and oil consumption has begun to become a normal thing. but it has 200k miles on it. I would not put 20 w 50 in a low mileage car. I have ran 15 w 40 rotella on my sisters chevy cobalt after 85k miles on it i started to run it. Now has 288k on it.

 

Accuracy of Equus cauges? I had big Equus tach at my car when i bought it. It read everything over the Place, and now and then it didnt even fall to zero when you turned ignition off, just stick't to ~1,5k rpm.
Currently its looking for friends at junkyard.

 

Sorry if I sound all over the place. First, the 96 Tercel that uses leaks a bit of oil has over 350,000 km. I figured since 20W50 topping it up dropped consumption, 5W50 synthetic made sense for -40 winter. I have seen the center electrode worn off NGK platinum plugs, surprised it ran so good. The Challenger has used oil ever since I went over 7000 km on one non synthetic oil change by accident. The 3.5 has known crankcase breather and sludge issues. I ran top end cleaner through throttle body, shot carb cleaner in the PCV and ran trans fluid then flushed the oil. Didn't help, was a liter every 5000 km, now probably more. I does not leak a drop, I am going to give 5W50 synthetic a try, a 138,000 km motor should not use oil, has been for 50,000 km. The Dodge dealer told me it was acceptable. I said how would you like it if it was your car? Their reply, not very much. It will finally be paid for in December. Other than two tie rod ends, driver's window switch, hood seal, driver leather seat cover cracking and common broken recirculation door, it has been decent. This 260 is a stop gap motor, uses a bit of oil, nothing major, no leaks and runs good for a 260, even acceptable in the steep hills. My current 2004R shifts in the mid 4000 rpms that is going in, should be fine. I may even try the factory recommended 10W40. The Olds 350 ran OK for me in the 88 CSC but not so good for my wife. I plan on adding a Holley Sniper EFI along with the 350 swap, although it will keep the carb for when I break in the custom cam from Mark. Coppercutlass. I two have a wondrous 2000 Dodge Dakota that has one, if not two cracked heads on the 5.9 magnum, I swapped in. Sounds like you have dreaded plenum issue, I am getting the Hughes plenum plate, along with a pair of EQ magnum heads with .028" head gaskets, since even on these magnum engines, the pistons sit .040-.050" in the hole. That will put it at 9.6 to 1, this truck was finally getting fun, big burn outs but would run shitty every once in a while. The heads must be cracked in the coolant passages. Running great, then boom, shooting out the rad cap and overheating. So much for new head gaskets, must have been tiny cracks that caused them to go in the first place.

 

Did a quick flush with Kleenflo flush and half a bottle of STP treatment, took it for a drive till it got to temperature. I sprayed Kleenflo Combustion Chamber Cleaner to it stalled. I let it sit a half hour then fired it up and ran till the smoke cleared and drained the oil. Threw 5W50 synthetic oil in since it is fall and I had it on the shelf. It has 5 to 10 more psi cold. I will be taking it next weekend for a 4 hour round trip next weekend.