Thanks everyone for your input! My radiator was restored in the last few years and a 180 degree thermostat installed. I do have the original fan shroud. Im not sure about the temperature sensor. I have an IR thermometer that I will mess around with and try to determine if I actually have a problem or not.
On Sep 9, 2026, at 4:20 PM, John Nowosacki <jsnowosacki@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Thanks John, I bet you are correct about the 'sticky' gauge, which was never an issue for my car over all the years I've owned it, but it's now 65 years old and living in TX. One thing I've come to find out that I wasn't aware of before moving here is that Texas is really very dusty and dirty. Lots of breezy, windy, conditions and fine particles that get into everything. It's also hot and dry enough to make any residual types of lubrication disappear. Earlier this car season I got in the G and headed off to a car show and was hit with a wave of panic as I had zero oil pressure! I reached through the steering wheel and tapped on the Astradome and the gauge sprang to life up to its normal operating position. On another occasion, I looked down to check my speed and found I was doing '0' mph. Another tap and the needle went up to the posted speed limit. If that could happen to both the speedo and the oil gauge, it could certainly happen with the temperature gauge, too. Now the big follow on question, what is the safe, non-intrusive method to 'clean' these sensitive gauges without doing more harm than good? My first (bad?) thought was to use one of those cans of compressed air for cleaning keyboards and such, but not sure if that will be too strong a stream of air for those tiny wires that go to the needles I don't really want to tear into the whole dome, but I suppose I could just remove the bottom cover and drop out one gauge at a time for 'cleaning', but again, what would be the smart method as opposed to a ham-handed brute force approach? Sounds like a good video from Mr. Merritt, if he ever created one that I don't know of. I'd add to this good info from Noel that the thermal temp gauges in our cars have a lot of issues , one being a sort of stick / slip action of the gauge internals ( aside from poor accuracy, another story ) John commented that he noticed when it went up a bit and then did not drop back a bit as expected on the highway ,-- I almost sure a gauge issue,,as sender is inherently accurate in sense of repeatability . They do not register small changes well , they stick then jump . A mechanical gauge is very accurate, but i do not like the look hanging under dash . I have seen small gauges above tach , not too bad . I am a big fan of dropping back 10-15 degrees on thermostat . Does not increase cooling-- it will still go to what it needs anyway , but it gives you 10-15 minutes more headroom on hot day in traffic Although 190 often blamed on emissions , the real reason is to downsize the radiator ($$$) as heat loss in btu is proportional to temp . And copper better than aluminum of same size , but not by much . This leads to small aluminum radiators run hot . On newer cars the computer will think it is in warmup at 165 , found out hard way trying to stop " trans overheat " light on JEEP 195 radiator cannot possibly cool a trans, maybe heats it , trans needs 40 degree delta, to throw heat on top of 190 ends up at 240 +. Nice design .. we love our lettercars Huge copper radiator!!! jg Hello Brent,
Following up on Carl's excellent email, also confirm that your F is fitted with the rear-facing fan shroud that's bolted to the radiator frame.
Confirming what others have said about your Temp gauge reading, when cruising your needle should hold at about under the "E" of "TEMP". This past Friday I drove to AUburn, IN from suburban Chicago in my F- 400-mile round trip - running my a/c in upper-80s temps, and the needle stayed constant there.
One final comment. Some of us have had issues with our coolant puking out of our radiator overflow hose from time to time. On recommendation of others, including a fellow member with a very large older car collection, running a 7# radiator cap has fully solved that issue - cheap and easy!
Noel Hastalis Burr Ridge, IL F coupe Good to hear this info, Carl. My G has always run between the T and E in TEMP. Since moving to TX, there are some days in the mid to upper 90's where it still runs in that same place until/unless I hit traffic or have to stop at a long light, etc. It then creeps up to almost touch the beginning of the M. Strangely (or not), once it has moved up to that point, it doesn't seem to want to come back down much once I start moving again, but doesn't go up any further. I'd be happier if it crept back down upon moving again. Also, make sure transmission fluid is at the correct level. Heat is the enemy, and low fluid level can make it run hotter at highway speeds, and the trans cooler in the radiator puts more heat into the coolant as well.
This has been discussed a number of times on the listserver; check the archives. Short answer is no, not normal, but never rely solely on the gauge reading until you know the actual engine coolant temp. The easiest way to do that is to go buy a cheap IR thermometer at Harbor Freight (or elsewhere) and point the laser at the thermostat housing above the thermostat to see what the actual temp is, then note the gauge reading. After market sending units will read too high on the gauge. On the F, G, H most modern senders will read around the "M" in "TEMP" with a 180 degree stat, maybe rise a bit at hot idle or with the A/C on, but some senders/gauges read even higher. The original factory senders read at or slightly above the first mark on the gauge at 180 degrees. Many variables involved: do you have a 180 stat, does it open correctly, is your cooling system and radiator clean and flowing well, are you using a fan clutch (non thermal or thermal, thermal works better), is it a heavy duty thermal clutch (engages at lower temp and to a greater degree) or standard duty thermal (modern ones don't really do much until you get to 180 or so AIR temperature behind the radiator, designed for hotter running emissions era cars).
Carl B.
------ Original Message ------
Date 9/8/2026 5:43:18 PM
Subject {Chrysler 300} Normal running temperature
Hello all,
I acquired my 300F earlier this year so I’m still getting to know it. It’s been hot here in NE Ohio and I finally got my ac working! Driving it last week on the highway with outside temperature in the low 90’s it seemed like my temperature was creeping up. It would creep up a little on the hills and if I turned the ac off the gauge would show about a needles width lower than with the ac on. It was right at the top of the normal range. Is this normal for these cars? I’ll attach a photo.
Thanks!
Brent
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