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Old 03-28-2007, 07:54 PM   #14
Dendrobium
Scooby Specialist
 
Member#: 24234
Join Date: Sep 2002
Chapter/Region: VIC
Location: Canada
Vehicle:
2003 WRX Wagon 5sp
WRB

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Quote:
Originally Posted by patr View Post
...
anyways, you can get serious variance with ANY aftermarket sensor by just installing it in a different place (hot place, cold place, externally cooled place, etc. etc.). Never mind the brand, type, model line tolerances, etc.

the ECU has a coolant temp sensor, stock, so going by that one, you dont want the car much over 100 C. The 2 stage fans kick in at different ECU coolant temps, approx 95C on average. The car is considered "warm" by the ECU after 87. Note that the stock gauge is in the middle well before this...The STOCK temp gauge reads "in the middle" across about 20C of variance. if your STOCK temp gauge is at all high, you are TOO HOT.

...
I have an EcuTek Dash Monitor that supposedly monitors the WRX 2.0L ECU's coolant temp reading. I also have a speedmonkee all aluminum rad (the stock rad's plastic endcaps started leaking coolant), and I don't run any high-psi rad caps.

That being said, I can confirm that the stock gauge is really an "idiot" gauge, and often reaches the middle long before the EcuTek Dash Monitor reports anything close to 80/90C. Once it reaches the middle, it hardly moves at all.

FWIW -- I consistently see:
87-89 (High-speed highway, or cold winter days)
89-91 (Normal traffic or normal rainy day)
92-94 (Hot summer city traffic, or stuck in an underground parking lot, fans kick in periodically at this point)

I have a slightly mismatched oil temp setup -- I have the EcuTek Dash Monitor reading my Subaru OEM oil temp sensor at the oil drain plug. I don't know if this sensor is really matched up well as it's made to send to the OEM LAMCO gauges, and may not provide Defi signal levels that the EcuTek Dash monitor expects.
Anyways -- qualitatively I notice that the oil temp takes considerably longer (ie. perhaps 5-10 minutes more) to warm up than the coolant does. My normal oil temp is in the range of 90-100C -- but this could be because the thermistor in my OEM LAMCO sender is mismatched to the one that the EcuTek Dash Monitor expects.
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