R380 Oil Temperature Guage

[Gluv]

Hi folks 

Any advice as to where I could fit an oil temp gauge to the R380 ? It's fitted in the Wolf so it also has the military oil cooler installed 

Gluv🇬🇧

[Mo Murphy]

Are you talking about the gauge or sender, gluv ?

Mo

[Gluv]

5 minutes ago, Mo Murphy said:

Are you talking about the gauge or sender, gluv ?

Mo

Fitting the sender to the box 

Gluv

[western]

There is only a location to fit a temperature sender that operates the red gear warning light on the warning light panel. Never seen a oil temp gauge for it. you would need to find out the normal operating temp & the max temp the warning light switch operates at then find a suitable temp gauge. 

the temp sender fits in the part on side of gearbox 

 

[FridgeFreezer]

Here's mine, cost me about £1:

[Gluv]

Hmmm,  as I suspected,not straight forward  

Gluv🇬🇧

[western]

My R380 has the small tubular housing but the top end is not drilled or threaded for the temp sender, which I have on the garage shelf, I may get around to sorting it soon. 

[FridgeFreezer]

4 hours ago, Gluv said:

Hmmm,  as I suspected,not straight forward 

Honestly though, I don't think you need a gauge for the R380 or LT230 - I use those tell-tale stickers on mine (and on my radiator, and oil filter) and none have ever gotten above standard operating temps.

For context, I put those tell-tales on my ambulance which is a 3-ton high-top 127" with a 4.6 V8 and no oil coolers at all, and even on 130kph european motorway runs, climbing alpine passes, and off-roading, none of them have ever gotten beyond normal temperature.

Also, remember that 50-60deg is too hot to hold your hand against but is the lower end of "normal" temperature for gearbox oils.

If anything your wolf is going to be massively over-cooled, you've got a small light vehicle with ~110hp when it was brand new that was designed to be thrashed to death by squaddies across the desert.

[Snagger]

11 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Here's mine, cost me about £1:

Was that reading from said blast through France?

[Gluv]

10 hours ago, FridgeFreezer said:

Honestly though, I don't think you need a gauge for the R380 or LT230 - I use those tell-tale stickers on mine (and on my radiator, and oil filter) and none have ever gotten above standard operating temps.

For context, I put those tell-tales on my ambulance which is a 3-ton high-top 127" with a 4.6 V8 and no oil coolers at all, and even on 130kph european motorway runs, climbing alpine passes, and off-roading, none of them have ever gotten beyond normal temperature.

Also, remember that 50-60deg is too hot to hold your hand against but is the lower end of "normal" temperature for gearbox oils.

If anything your wolf is going to be massively over-cooled, you've got a small light vehicle with ~110hp when it was brand new that was designed to be thrashed to death by squaddies across the desert.

I kind of like gauges 😬

Gluv🇬🇧

[FridgeFreezer]

2 hours ago, Gluv said:

I kind of like gauges 😬

Gluv🇬🇧

Fitting loads of gauges because you like gauges is fine, I prefer simplicity.

@Snagger I don't remember, I think the first outing they read high because the exhaust was very close to the transmission (so being blasted by a big radiator) but since moving the exhaust over a bit they've never gone high, and that includes blatting it up & down the alps last year.

[vulcan bomber]

You (or rather I) could drill and tap the adaptor housing on the gearbox where the thermostat and oil cooler hose for the gear box are. 

 

[Gluv]

4 hours ago, vulcan bomber said:

You (or rather I) could drill and tap the adaptor housing on the gearbox where the thermostat and oil cooler hose for the gear box are. 

 

So am I right in thinking that the military oil cooler adaptor for the box fits in the same position as the warning light sender ? . I'm away from home at the mo and can't have a crawl underneath 

Gluv🇬🇧

[western]

2 hours ago, Gluv said:

So am I right in thinking that the military oil cooler adaptor for the box fits in the same position as the warning light sender ? . I'm away from home at the mo and can't have a crawl underneath 

Gluv🇬🇧

Yes it does, the trans oil cooler isn't just for military 90/110 it can be fitted to vehicles that need to run a PTO device for long periods. you either have the full trans oil cooler or the over temp warning light switch,don't think there is a option for both.

[Gluv]

1 minute ago, western said:

Yes it does, you either have the full trans oil cooler or the over temp warning light switch,don't think there is a optio for both.

Thanks for that . I didn't think I remembered any wiring down in those parts , just the pipes from the cooler

Gluv🇬🇧

[FridgeFreezer]

On 8/30/2020 at 6:03 AM, Snagger said:

Was that reading from said blast through France?

No but this is from last year's blast through the Italian Alps during a record heatwave:

 

[Sigi_H]

These temps look kind of interesting. I think, the only reason for cooling gearboxes could be a cooler seatbox and gearbox tunnel.

[western]

& when a pto winch is used for long periods where the gear selected controls the speed or lots of heavy trailer towing in hilly areas. 

[neil110]

there is the facility to fit a warning light sender to the LT230 as well should you feel so inclined.

Never had any problems with transmission overheating, even when flogging through deep sand in the Sahara

[Gluv]

5 hours ago, neil110 said:

there is the facility to fit a warning light sender to the LT230 as well should you feel so inclined.

Never had any problems with transmission overheating, even when flogging through deep sand in the Sahara

The gauges man , the gauges ! 🙂

Gluv🇬🇧

[neil110]

if you can find out the thread of the plug in the side of the LT230 or the top of the sender unit in the R380 then it ought to be possible to fit a VDO temperature sender to either/both and compatible gauges in the dashboard.

https://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/s/instruments-gauges-senders/vdo-gauges-and-senders/vdo-senders-and-accessories

[Sigi_H]

Gearbox temperatures are interesting for sure ... but only for several times in your special conditions. Once you know the range, you do not need gauges anymore. They become useless, because they will always show the same. Best idea in my eyes is to use the strips to get the highest temperatures and to use a handheld IR thermomenter with a laser dot for actual measurements