oil temp gage

[03fxsti]

Breeze,
You were right, it did need a ride to start showing temperature. Not sure it is reading accurate temp, as it read about 200 degrees most of the way on a 42 mile ride. Could it be the oil runs that cool in a 2010 Ultra? I will have to check the temps on the oil pan with a calibrated IR thermometer when I get home.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Dr. Dolittle]

Breeze,
You were right, it did need a ride to start showing temperature. Not sure it is reading accurate temp, as it read about 200 degrees most of the way on a 42 mile ride. Could it be the oil runs that cool in a 2010 Ultra? I will have to check the temps on the oil pan with a calibrated IR thermometer when I get home.

Thanks for the advice.

What was the air temperature during this ride? What kind of ride was it? Steady speed or lots of accelerating and loading the engine?

On a warm to cool day at steady speeds (not a lot of sitting at lights) 200 degrees sounds pretty normal.

 

[03fxsti]

Dr,

It was in the 60's, and it was a freeway ride. Steady speed about 75 MPH 42 miles. Ride home coming through town, lots of stop and go, the temps went up to the 230 mark. I'm glad to know everything is working. Now I have one more tool to let me know how the engine is performing.

I like to know how things are running and the only way to tell is by monitoring pressures and temperatures. I had the analog thermometer dip stick in the oil bag on my softail and put a pressure gage on it as well.

 

[Breeze3at]

Dr,
It was in the 60's, and it was a freeway ride. Steady speed about 75 MPH 42 miles. Ride home coming through town, lots of stop and go, the temps went up to the 230 mark. I'm glad to know everything is working. Now I have one more tool to let me know how the engine is performing.

Your oil temp. vs air temp. and riding conditions pretty much mirror mine.

 

[greasit]

If I were to install a temp gage I would put the senser in the oil return line to get the actual highest true running temp that would be indicated. not in the tank or after the cooler.

 

[Cuzz]

I added the fairing mounted gauge also. It worked ok. After I saw how quickly heat can build up with the right conditions, I added an oil cooler. The HD recommended placement of the temp sensor is undesirable, because you get no reading on relatively cool days. That by itself may not be a big deal, but since I went to the trouble and expense of installing the gauge, I wanted it to read as accurately as possible. More importantly the recommended method involves splicing a Tee into the oil line. That's a source for a potential failure that you dont need. On Touring bikes, there is a plug in the forward facing side of the engine oil pan. There's another screw in plug close to the drain plug. You can remove it and get the brass fitting that allows you to screw the fitting into the pan, and the stock HD temp sensor into the brass fitting. Simply lengthen and reroute the sensor wire to the new position. Now you will know the temp of the oil thats going to be pumped into the engine, which makes a lot more sense than before or after the oil cooler.

 

[TQuentin1]

The significance of the oil temp gauge is as a tool to help monitor what is happening to the engine's life blood. Both the oil temp and oil pressure gauges allow for this. But neither are precision instruments. So it is not as important what the gauges actually read, but rather that the patterns that you will become accustom to for both the gauges do not deviate unexpectedly or rapidly (i.e., oil pressure suddenly dropping to zero, or oil temp suddenly or quickly rising). Whether your gauge is reading 32psi or 36 psi is almost not readable on these gauges, but the difference between around 10 and around 30 is clearly something that the gauge can show you. Same thing with the temp gauge. You can tell if the oil in the reservoir is somewhere around 200*F or if it is closer to 300*F, and can do something about it.

So the exact location of the sending unit is a matter of convenience and ease of installation rather then to try to get an "accurate" reading of the oil temperature. The gauge itself is not a precision instrument that can give you that information.

TQ

 

[HDDon]

The significance of the oil temp gauge is as a tool to help monitor what is happening to the engine's life blood. Both the oil temp and oil pressure gauges allow for this. But neither are precision instruments. So it is not as important what the gauges actually read, but rather that the patterns that you will become accustom to for both the gauges do not deviate unexpectedly or rapidly (i.e., oil pressure suddenly dropping to zero, or oil temp suddenly or quickly rising). Whether your gauge is reading 32psi or 36 psi is almost not readable on these gauges, but the difference between around 10 and around 30 is clearly something that the gauge can show you. Same thing with the temp gauge. You can tell if the oil in the reservoir is somewhere around 200*F or if it is closer to 300*F, and can do something about it.

So the exact location of the sending unit is a matter of convenience and ease of installation rather then to try to get an "accurate" reading of the oil temperature. The gauge itself is not a precision instrument that can give you that information.

TQ

Totally agree here. I have the fairing mounted guage and I use it to tell me if anything unusual is happening with the oil temp.

 

[tlippy]

Don't know what "precision" means to anyone but JES claims his gauge is +/- 1%. That's precision to me.

07-Present Electra Glide Temperature Guage 1.5OD


This is a superb quality and well thought oil temp. gauge. Installed this gauge on my 2009 FLTR a week ago and get a pretty consistent 225° reading. I'd rather have a gauge installed in the dipstick hole than run a wire underneath the bike that can get pinched when I jack up the bike. Unless U have some catastrophic event, knowing the oil temp. while riding is useless. It's only a concern when idling in traffic. JMHO Yesterday 5 of us went for a ride and 4 had the ability to check oil temps. We all read 225° - with or without an oil cooler. I think this oil temp. mania is just that. What I like about this gauge most of all is it makes reading the oil level much easier - the gauge just pulls out - U don't have to unscrew it.