where is the temperature sending unit on a Ford Bronco 1992 Eddie Bauer 351 V8 engine 4x4 ? I have the manual but its not really helping me. I am having problems getting my temp gauge to work even though i have changed both the thermastat and engine coolant sensor. I hope this might work before going to replace the gauge itself. Thanks

 

There are actually two temperature sensors: one on the thermostat housing and one on the intake manifold. If I'm not mistaken, the one on the intake manifold sends a signal to the gauge. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will chime in. Use the Search feature and you'll find some good info.

I will be watching this thread closely because I've recently purchased mechanical gauges for my coolant temp and my oil pressure. Neither of the factory gauges have ever worked to my satisfaction so I ordered them and a gauge pod. As soon as I get some time, I'll put them in.

 

92eb,

You've got it right. The sending unit for the gauge is a single wire resistor-type in the lower intake manifold on the driver's side. The ECT sensor for sending temperature info to the PCM is mounted in a fitting just above and behind the water neck on the thermostat housing. Either location will work for connecting a mechanical gauge as long as you can get the bulb for the mechanical gauge into the hole. Whatever you do though, DO NOT interfere with the operation of the ECT sensor or you will end up with all sorts of idle and performance problems.

 

your temp gauge sender is located to the right of and rear of the distributer and is the single wire lead. the wire end is a black rubber 90 degree bend and pulls off straight up. if you take a wire and stick it in the connector and take the other end with you inside the truck. turn on the key and JUST BRIEFLY touch it to ground[ a bare bolt or hinge] and the gauge should hop right up to hot. that will tell you that the wiring harness and gauge are working ok. if it dosen't move or jumps a little there's a loose connection. if it dosen't move bang the top of the dash over the gauge and if it moves that will tell you the same thing I found with mine. the push/pressure contacts on the back of the gauge /speedo unit are faulting. I removed mine and by back tracing the back of the console you can figure out the contacts. I soldered mine with a small[pencil] gun but be carefull cause its just a flex ribbon for a circuit board . good luck pulling the dash and repair could take a hour or more. testing it only takes a few minutes. john

 

thanks guys, i have much faith in your responses. I ll take a good look today and see if it is connected since i recently put a used engine in. If it doest work i am also going to put new gauges in. Later

 

ok i found the sending unit, u were right J.E. its pops right off. But after I popped it back on there was alot of play on the boot. I also banged on top of the dash, i got no movement. Do you think that may be the reason its not sending to the gauge? the fact that the boot is loose on the connector? It seems like a cheap part to fix. I might have to replace the sending unit. I didnt see any breaks in the wiring either.

 

dave don't jump at a gauge pac just yet $$$$ if the connecter is loose stick a small file/wire brush in the connecter and "clean it up" then take a small needle nose pleirs and tighten up the clip on the inside you said you already put in a new sending unit sothat shoud be ok also did the connecter get "stretched" so the wire in side is broke off do the ground trick as said earlier message first slow go on the wallet you"ll need the money for gas!!

 

J.E. first it was the engine coolant sensor i replaced not the sending unit itself. The sending unit looks old, so does the wire itself but i dont think the wire is stretched . I am going to try and clean up the the connecter tommorow and tighten up the clip, i hope thats it . I called auto zone and the sending unit is less than 10 bucks . If the test doesnt work then i will buy the part. For sure Broncos drink much gas but we dont get stuck in the winter

 

As usual, I get information on FTE I am going to need before I know I am going to need it. I have added a mechanical oil pressure guage to my TTD list. With temp. guage moving a letter or two up or down very quickly a new Temp guage is now on the list and now I know where to connect it. My question, where is the best mounting location and what brand/color would you use? In a web search, I found a guage pillar mount for a F-250 for three guages. Thoughts please.....

 

I have a three-gauge "A" pillar cluster with Auto Meter Ultra-lite aluminum-faced gauges. "Oil pressure", "coolant temp", and "vacuum" are each 1.5" gauges and Surprisingly the additional "thickness" to the "A" pillar doesn't obstruct the field of vision at intersections enough for it to bother me and I'm kinda selfish when it comes to what I can see while I'm driving.

 

greystreak92.... great minds must think alike. I just bought a gauge pod for my '92. I only got the dual for oil pressure and water temperature though. I didn't have much of an option as to where to mount gauges though. Like you, I like to see where I'm going when I drive so looking down to peek at operating variables while driving didn't suit me. I'd advise gauge pods for anyone mounting gauges. Under dash mounting is for switches and CD players.

 

'Streak, my wife the interior designer says odd numbers look better than even but we will ignore that. Do you see any advantage to the vacuum guage? Where did you find the 1.5" setup? Are all of these mechanical hookups and how hard was it to thread everything through? Did I miss the stupid question? Thanks.

 

update on my Temp Gauge, Amen finally got it working, it was the sending unit that was bad not the gauge itself. Part cost me 5 bucks at Auto Zone, and 5 mins to install. Gage is perfect in the middle. Now i have piece of mind until the next episode of Bronco repair madness. Good luck with your gage pods guys. Thank for your help.

 

I have used the space just under the ash tray to mount gauges. In my current daily driver I only have a Sun Pro oil pressure gauge mounted under there (this was a stop gap measure until I get the AutoMeter units mounted) to give me piece of mind with thinking about the stock oil pressure gauge and how it works......I know it is only a glorified idiot light.....and it may not be even that good!

I am planning on installing a three gauge panel under the ash tray with AutoMeter Phantom 2 1/16" oil pressure, coolant temp, tranny temp gauges in a mix of both mechanical and electric units.

I would go with a A pillar mount, but here in NYC you NEED to have all the visibility you can get because the people crossing the street will walk into the side of the truck or worse without even looking to see if a car is turning.....left hand turns are the worst with the A pillar set up.

anyhow here is a pic of where I mounted (and plan to mount the three gauge panel) on my current DD Bronco.

 

At this point, I am leaning with your guage mounting Streetgang. I have not found the A pillar mount for 1.5" guages yet and think 2 1/16" guages there may be too wide. We don't have your pedestrian issue here. They are all in little 2-door cars running red lights but I am afraid I may miss seeing a stump or tree when I go to the deer lease and don't want bruises on my EB. So, let me ask, why the tranny temp. guage and where would you put the sender? I have a 94 EB 351W with trailer towing package. Also, which guages will be electrical? BTW, the original owner of my Bronco lived on Long Island a few years. They liked to ski. My spare tire is inside mount to keep if from being stolen they said.