Here is a mystery. On my BF 225 I have installed surface-mounted heat sensors on each side of the manfold jacket. Under load, the left bank of cylinders heats up to 160 F as it is supposed to. The right side initially heats up to about 150 F, then drops down to 140 F and stays there. This has been going on since I installed the gauges and sensors about three years ago. Initially, I thought I had a bad sensor or bad gauge, or weak connections. I’ve tested all of those (replaced right sensor, swapped gauges, swapped wires, etc. and they are working fine. Also replaced t-stats last year.) In fact, once the engine is turned off and there is no more water circulation, the right side temperature gauge climbs to 160 F + and matches the left side perfectly.
I checked the shop manual (Page 8-2) and it appears that the water circulation around each manifold should be the same, each is pressured directly by the water pump and each side's flow controlled by the thermostat on that side.
So, does anyone have an explanation as to why there is a 20 F difference between the two cylinder banks? Second question is, how could the t-stats let this happen? Third question - is this 20 F difference harmful to the engine in the long term?
I checked the shop manual (Page 8-2) and it appears that the water circulation around each manifold should be the same, each is pressured directly by the water pump and each side's flow controlled by the thermostat on that side.
So, does anyone have an explanation as to why there is a 20 F difference between the two cylinder banks? Second question is, how could the t-stats let this happen? Third question - is this 20 F difference harmful to the engine in the long term?