Cylinder Head Temps, My Experience + lessons learned Options

[rwilner]

I drove down to Chris Foley's shop to get his shift linkage installed this weekend. At the charlton plaza on I-90, I stopped to fill up. I usually put premium in the 914 but this time put regular in because it's what I put in my other cars and I was on autopilot. Oh well, I thought...let's see how she runs on 87, maybe I'm wasting my $$ on the good stuff.

Before the fillup, I was running between 300 and 325 F in 5th gear around 70-75 mph.

After the fillup, I was running between 380 and 400! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ohmy.gif)

I spent the rest of the trip in 4th gear at no less than 3500 rpm to try and keep the head temps down. When I got to Chris' shop, we put the car in the air and drained out 5 gallons. I replaced them with 93 octane before getting on the highway for the ride home. My cyl head temps were back down to 310-350 for the return trip.

Here's what I learned:

• A cylinder head temp sensor and gauge are critical to know what's happening in your engine and should be on everyone's short list. Without it I would never have known of the dangerous operating conditions for the engine. The aircraft spruce gauge/probe are short $$ and a quick install.
• The state of tune has a major impact on running temps (duh). I am still tuning my car with the microsquirt and it's clear I have work to do.
• Higher octane gas makes your car run cooler.

As always YMMV but thought I'd share my experience.
Rich

[76-914]

FYI.......the a/c cht's purpose is to set the a/f ratio. when @ altitude you pull (lean) the mixture until the engine rpm's drop then push (richen) to 50F cooler than indicated temp where rpm dropped.

[ww914]

FYI.......the a/c cht's purpose is to set the a/f ratio. when @ altitude you pull (lean) the mixture until the engine rpm's drop then push (richen) to 50F cooler than indicated temp where rpm dropped.

Simple airplanes don't have either a CHT or an EGT guage. The mixture is leaned until the engine runs rough, then slighty richened until the engine runs smooth again. This must be done each time the aircraft changes altitude. If your lucky enough to have a CHT, it can be used, but an EGT puts it right on the 50 degree richer mark. Ask me how I know. I burnt the valves in my little Cessna because I didn't re-calibrate often enough. When I got my big Maule, I had the EGT installed so I wouldn't do that again.

In our cars, I think Chris is right, an EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) is a bit of overkill. I do think a CHT guage is a very useful tool with everything that has been said so far on this thread about overloading the engine on a hill. I haven't yet decided what I am going to install, but it will be something. I hate burned valves.

[Elliot Cannon]

FYI.......the a/c cht's purpose is to set the a/f ratio. when @ altitude you pull (lean) the mixture until the engine rpm's drop then push (richen) to 50F cooler than indicated temp where rpm dropped.

Simple airplanes don't have either a CHT or an EGT guage. The mixture is leaned until the engine runs rough, then slighty richened until the engine runs smooth again. This must be done each time the aircraft changes altitude. If your lucky enough to have a CHT, it can be used, but an EGT puts it right on the 50 degree richer mark. Ask me how I know. I burnt the valves in my little Cessna because I didn't re-calibrate often enough. When I got my big Maule, I had the EGT installed so I wouldn't do that again.

In our cars, I think Chris is right, an EGT (Exhaust Gas Temperature) is a bit of overkill. I do think a CHT guage is a very useful tool with everything that has been said so far on this thread about overloading the engine on a hill. I haven't yet decided what I am going to install, but it will be something. I hate burned valves.

Even in the simplest airplanes you can have and should have an EGT gauge. All things considered, they are relatively cheap considering the information they can give you. I have a CHT in my 914 and would like to have an EGT but I don't think it's that important for a street machine. Once the fuel air mixture is set on a car, it pretty much stays the same. It changes all the time in an airplane because of the great differences you can experience in air pressure and density. I used to adjust the mixture on the old Beech 18 by the color of the exhaust at nght. It was actually pretty accurate. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)