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Ok, so you laugh...but really VDO and a sender are just very expensive. So, I went to K-Mart (I HATE Wal-mart) and bought one of Martha's meat thermometers for about three bucks. When I stop for gas, I check my oil level and then place the Martha down the dip stick hole. In the time it takes to fill my tank, Martha has measured the madness. So far, with commute trips of 60 miles or more in 80 F weather, my oil temp has yet to exceed 195 F.

So, for you folks on a budget, try the felony-oil temp guage.

I do this on most of our collector cars... it's not a reliable way to check temp... it does help tell the wide variance on the temp swings... I have known when there are ploblems (after it was too late)....

I'll let you know if the roast is ever over-done... but so far, for the past several months anyway, I've seen no signs of an over-cooked turkey using the Felon-Thermometer.

MNAirHead wrote:I do this on most of our collector cars... it's not a reliable way to check temp... it does help tell the wide variance on the temp swings... I have known when there are ploblems (after it was too late)....

I have read long and hard on the oil temp gauge issue, but there seems to be no consensus as to where the reading should be taken to get the most useful information. The easiest place to measure the oil temp is in the sump. Why isn't that good enough? Can the temperature of the oil in the sump and the temperature of oil elsewhere be so disparate?

The oil is drawn from the sump, up through the collection tube, to the pump and then the oil journals to the bearings and cooler. The oil gets splashed in the case where it gets delivered to piston rings, up the pushrods and pushrod tubes to the valve springs and tappets. The best place to get your best "average" oil temp is going to be your sump, any place else in the delivery system will be either hot, or cold, depending upon where the oil is going or where it has been. Since the VW engine relies on oil for lubrication AND cooling, it has a large sump designed to hold oil and dissapate heat. Most temp senders replace the drain plug which is directly below the collection tube. Therefore you get a temp of what is being sucked up the tube. Another sender is attached to or replaces your dip stick, this will give you the average temp of the oil laying in the sump ready to be circulated. I doubt that there is a significant difference in temp from either of these locations enough to be dangerous.

I know a guy whos has two of these meat thermometers on his drag motor! One JB welded to a cooling fin of each head. Works great.

I've found these things are best for telling if there's a difference... not an actual reading.

T.l