Grille Block & Temperature Gauge Accuracy
 

Been reading a lot of the threads about Grille blocking, but have not seen many mentions of coolant temperature.
Just have a bit of a concern that people new to this process may not realise that the std temperature gauge is not accurate and they may go too far with a Grill block and run into trouble.
Std Auto temp gauges have a flat spot in the operating range, so they quickly rise to std position (1/4 - 1/2) and then do not register any significant change even though the temp is still rising, they only start moving again just as the car is about to overheat.
So do not rely on the std temp gauge, get an aftermarket gauge or scan gauge that actually tells you what the temp is, that way you can tell if you are going too far with the Grille blocking before there is any danger of overheating.

My temp gauge doesn't go above 90°C, even when the fan died in a traffic jam in the summer and the ScanGauge showed 114°C.

Good point - the name "gauge" is an indication, it is meant to allow the observer to estimate the temperature and not to be an accurate figure, just like the fuel gauge is meant to allow you to work out when to refuel.

You have a good point. I've "verified" my temp gauge with a Scantool and they read pretty much exactly the same.

Just another example of my rant here:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ges-19568.html

I'm lucky. My temperature gauge is a real temperature gauge as verified by my Scangauge.