Still running hot on muffs. Should I worry?

[nola mike]

The dash gauges aren't necessarily accurate. Sounds like you're good. There are specs to test the gauge based on resistance, but I don't have them off the top of my head. Did you check at the temp sender?

 

[jesse_boston]

Ran like this ^^^ for 30 mins in the driveway on muffs, and also for about an hour on the lake tonight (stayed near idle the whole time, revved up to 3000rpm-ish once and the indicated temp only went up to 190 from 183, then went back.
Guardian alarm would periodically go off then stop going off, regardless of the temperature, even if I unplugged one or both of the temp sensor/switches on the thermostat housing.

Guess I need to test the sensor and gauge tomorrow or Saturday, and also research the whole guardian alarm to see what might be triggering the alarm.

The drive sort of sounded a little like a power steering pump that is low on fluid. Sort of a moaning sound. Not very pronounced unless the engine cover is open. Maybe this is a normal sound for an alpha 1? no idea, this is my first.

Nola Mike: No I haven't tested the temp sender resistance yet, I have it in my manual though. I think I'll pull it out of the motor and test it in a pan on the stove next to a meat thermometer so i know exactly what the water temp is that it is sensing.

 

[tpenfield]

I use an IR temperature 'gun' to get a more accurate reading of the engine temperature, both at the sender location and elsewhere around the engine . . . my gauges usually read about 10˚ F higher than what the engine actually is running.

Sounds like you cleared some junk out of the cooling intake line, so it should be working better.

 

[jesse_boston]

Yeah, the gauge still says 183 when the gun says 140 at the sender. 10 degrees difference from water temp to housing/sender body temp sounds reasonable. 40 is not so reasonable. Glad I decided to point the IR gun at it, otherwise I would've been chasing my tail for a lot longer.

Thanks for the help and info. I'll report back once I test the various sensors.

 

[jesse_boston]

Tested the sender in a pot of water on the stove, all the numbers matched the book or close to it.

Started up the boat, let it warm up to the usual "183" indicated that it likes to settle out at. Pulled off the gauge wire and checked with my multimeter at the sender, 91-94 ohms. This lines up with about 160-175. Good enough for me.