I'm getting a water temp/oil pressure/ammeter gauge set for my 460.

My question is: Where do I put the sensors if I want to keep the stock stuff in place?

Can I put the water temp sensor in the water neck?

If I put a tee in the rear of the block where the stock oil pressure sensor is, will I get an accurate reading on the new one?

Thanks in advance.

Kevin K.

 

Can't say about the water temp sensor location... but I had no problems "T" ing into the stock oil pressure port to install "real" gauge on my '88 460.

It's a little tricky to get at the original sensor and you'll need the correct oil pressure sensor socket to get it out but nothing a little patience won't cure.

R.

 

Thanks! I have the intake manifold off which is why I want to figure this out now. It's really easy to get at like it is, and looks impossible with the manifold on.

I don't see how a socket could fit on it though. It's about 1 1/2" in dia. and 2" or so high with a nut underneath. I would think you'd have to use an open end wrench, but I'll look closer at it tonight.

Thanks again.

Kevin K.

 

I did mine with the intake and Fuel Injection throttle body in place which made for very cramped and awkward access to the sensor.

With the intake off, it should be a walk in the park!

The socket I'm referring to is a special tool designed for removing the sensor from above... it looks like a very large deep socket. I used it once... now it's part of my collection of "oddball tools I'll never use again."

Another guage I installed is a vacuum indicator... this helped more than I thought it would... by allowing me to keep the motor running in an effecient RPM range which in turn saved my a couple of bucks in fuel costs.

R.

 

Cool. A guy could really get carried away with guages. I'd like to do oil temp., tranny fluid temp., vac., t-case and dif. temp. too. I probably wouldn't be able to see out the winshield with all those guages, though. I'd feel like I was in a ricer.

Kevin K.

 

If you already have a big canister with a nut on it you have an electric pressure gauge that is showing pressure not just the fact that you have more than 5lbs of pressure as the late models do. You can also put an oil pressure gauge connection on the front of the motor down in the area that the small block v8's have theirs it is a 3/8 pipe plug on the side of the block just above where the oil filter/adapter is bolted on to. It would probably show a little more pressure then the port at the back of intake manifold since it is a the front of the oil flow path. As for the temp gauge I have put a pipe tee in the heater hose line going TO the heater core this has worked well for me. It gives you about the highest temp you will see in an engine. You need to keep the temp gauge as high and as far forward in the block as possible. and stay on the engine side of the thermostat.

 

wtroger,

I think you're right about the electric oil pressure sensor. It just has a single wire that snaps on the top. I'll look by the oil filter for the other plug.

As for the water temp., I didn't think about being on the engine side of the thermo (duh). I also didn't know that the coolant flows through the heater core ALL THE TIME. I thought it was only when the heat was on (duh again).

Do they make a special tee for splicing into the heater hose or do I have to make one up from pipe fittings?

Thanks a bunch!

Kevin K.

 

I used a T fitting to retain my stock electric idiot oil pressure gauge and run a mechanical gauge. Why, I still haven't decided as it only signals more/less than 7lbs of oil pressure.

 

George, the oil pressure sender is a common pipe thread IIRC. I fitted a "T" to my mother's '76 460 T-bird years ago so that the idiot light would act as a master caution light while the actual pressure was displayed on the gauge, mounted at the bottom edge of the dash in her car. Ford sells a "quick" and a "slow" sender. The quick shuts off the idiot light when the pressure reaches its preset value (normally ~ 5 psi), while the slow sender sends a variable voltage signal (for a gauge), depending on the pressure. On my '76 van I once installed a quick sender. As soon as I started the engine, it pegged the gauge so hard I thought it had broken it...

 

Well I got all the stock sensors/sending units off last night. and brought them all to work today, along with the new fittings for the new gauges. I have little pictures I drew so I know what fittings to get.

I'm thinking about putting the new water temp sensor in the hole for the old one. The new sensor is about 1 1/2" long so I need a deep space to fit it in. The stock sensor is only 1/2" long, so I want to put a tee where the heater hose comes into the manifold for that.

The new oil sensor will go on a tee with the old one at the stock location.

Thanks for the help all!

Kevin K.

 

I did this to my 460 in my 77. I removed the pipe plug just to the rear of the fuel pump for my mechanical oil pressure gauge and left the factory sending unit in the rear behind the intake. I hooked the temp gauge intake and moved the factory sender to the thermostat housing.
Jimmy

 

The top plug at the rear of the block is the correct location for oil pressure. Just put in a tee and run it there. On my 460 the manifold had two spots on the front of the manifold for a water temp guage. Leave the factory one where is is and put your guage in the other one right beside the thermostat housing. Both my stock manifold and my aluminum one have the same holes.

 

Thanks for the suggestions all!

I got mine in Friday afternoon after two trips to the parts store. I boutght a bunch of standard pipe fittings/tees for just a few bucks.

I put a tee in the rear of the block for the new oil pressure sensor and the original sensor.

For the water temp, I put the new sensor in the driver side hole on the manifold where the original one was. The other hole on top is where the heater hose comes in. I put a tee on there and put the original temp sensor in that tee.

As soon as I put the rest of the thing together, I'll start her up and see if anything I did works.

Thanks again!

Kevin K.