Can’t read engine temp. How long can I run before I worry?

[RallyEclipse98]

Here’s the skinny:

I recently threw the car up on the lift and replaced a bunch of cooling related items. The temp gauge sensor (and wire since I broke it), fan sensor, and thermostat. How do I tell if things are not working properly and the engine is overheating? I ran the car for a few minutes and it looked like my temp sensor was working b/c there was no read. Since I replaced the fan sensor I can rely on the fans turning on to indicate the car is getting warm.

How long should I run the car before it will overheat if nothing is working properly? About 5 minutes until I will either see the t-stat open, fans engage, or temp read on dash?

Ugh, weird question but it seemed like when I ran the car it was getting hot.
Thanks, everyone.

 

[blackeagle92]

It may take a little longer than 5 min at idle to warm up.. If the gauge on the dash is working just keep an eye on that.

 

[alumascoupe]

Depending how sensitive your hands are, I can hold a radiator hose for a long time around 180 degrees, at 210-220 where the fan should be kicking in I can hold for maybe 10-15 seconds, most ghetto fabulous temp gauge ever, but it works on any make/model/year anywhere I go. Start training yourself now and become one with the temp. you'll know when its too hot, no question about it ! Kinda like you know a 300 degree oven is too hot within milliseconds, just learn to gauge how fast different temps hurt and pull back quickly before the damage is done. Also, do not try this on any metal on the engine as it conducts heat too quickly and for "accurate" measurement you need to slow the process down a little. Or buy a temp gauge !!

 

[crash89]

Let it idle for a few minutes then take it for a drive.. Itll take a while for it to really heat up just idling. Especially if the weather is cooler. Your last statement "Ugh, weird question but it seemed like when I ran the car it was getting hot" what makes you assume this? Did you touch the radiator hose or just look at it and be like oh man I dont know.. Did you also make a typo in you first post? You said "looked like you temp sensor was working because there was NO read" What??? If your temp sensor was working it would move in a couple minutes.

If you let the car run for say 10 minutes inside a building and the temp sensor didnt move Id say that you did something wrong or have a faulty part. I never liked the stock temp gauge, I bought an aftermarket one not too long after I bought my car. I like knowing exactly what the temps are running.. Not to mention that there isnt really much movement from the normal operation "mark" to overheating.

 

[RallyEclipse98]

I was worried the car was getting warm because the upper radiator hose was swelling. There was steam coming off the coolant line where it comes across the header and into the thermostat housing as well. I was concerned but I figure now that it was the pb blaster vaporizing from when I had the coolant lines removed. The radiator hose was new so it needed to swell some. I also used a lot of PB blaster to remove my header so it was also creating quite the vapor cloud in the engine bay.

The temperature gauge in the car hasn't worked since I did the head gasket change. However, I believe the water level has just been a little too low. I put 2 gallons of distilled water in to clean the system a little and I think somehow I spilled a little too much (apparently I spilled over 1/2 quart since I put in 2 gallons and the system requires 7.4 quarts) and that's why the sensor couldn't pick up anything to read. I am going back to the shop now to fill it with new coolant. This should solve the problem I hope. Will report back. Thanks for your help and sorry for such a poorly proofread post earlier.