I know it's kinda like putting a silk tie on a pig, but here's how I ended up putting in the sending unit.

 

Fat I am going to add this to our Mod Links Can you post a short writeup of how you did it to go with the pics.

BTW: Its Ok to put a Silk Tie on A pig just dont put Silk Panties on one.

 

What I did was replace the PTO cover on the side of the ZF6 trans with a billet plate with a 1/8" NPT port for the temp sending unit. While I made the plate myself, ITP sells a nice piece that accomplishes the same thing.

First I made sure I had enough Mobil 1 Synthetic ATF to refill the gear box. The truck will take about 5.8 quarts if you don't drain the cooler lines, etc. This is the 4th time I have replaced the fluid and have never replaced the fluid in the lines. It is just too little of volume to make it worth my while.

Second I made sure I had a funnel to get the fluid back in the trans. I found a flexible funnel device that screws onto a normal ATF bottle and has a clear tube to run into the fill plug. The funnel wouldn't fit the wide mouth on the Mobil 1, so I had to transfer the fluid into the dummy bottle each time. No big deal there.

At this point I used a big breaker bar with a reducer to 3/8 ratchet wrench size to remove the fill and drain plugs. Remove the fill one first to ensure you can and will be able to refill the trans. I started with my 3/8 ratchet but was about to break it when I changed tools to the big breaker bar... Those plugs are on TIGHT.

As the fluid drained I started removing the six bolts that hold the PTO cover on. These bolts are hard to remove as well.

The OEM stamped steel cover then comes right off with the gasket. There is no factory sealant so there was very little clean up. I quick once over with a gasket scraper and some paint thinner has it clean in no time.

I then coated both surfaces as well as both sides of the NEW gasket with a product called Gaskacinch. This stuff makes a nice tacky surface for adhesion.

After waiting five minutes to set up, the new plate was installed on the trans. I made sure I used a torquing sequence to evenly tighten up the plate. I will go back after a day or two to make sure it's tight. Sometimes a cork gasket will compress.

Now it was time to install the sending unit. I took Jeremy's advice from another post and left the first three threads bare, then wrapped the rest with teflon tape. This is to allow the sending unit to ground and function properly. The sending unit installed very easily with a deep socket.

At this point put the plug in the bottom of the trans and filled it with new fluid. A funnel with about a 3 or 4 foot hose would be ideal, but I used the little screw on funnel tube device and had it filled in about 5 mins. You'll know it's full when it starts dribbling back out the fill hole.

Finally I routed the sending unit wire down the frame rail and zip tied it to the clutch slave cylinder line to keep it from bouncing all over the place. A quick terminal crimp and it was ready to connect to the sender.

If you buy the plate and make sure you have the required materials listed above, you can expect to have this job complete in about an hour. The gauge itself is another post, but there are many posts that already cover it.

I am pleased with the install and can now monitor the temp of my ZF6. I drove 17 miles to work this morning and it hit somewhere around 125, but I tow the dune buggy over some big tall passes in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the summer. I'll report back next year.

 

NOTE: For People using a 270* sweep gauge with a two wire sender it is not neccessary to leave the first few threads bare.

Nice Write up Fat - Earned some points here, but alas I must spread it around some more first

 

Cool!!! keep us posted.

 

BTW- Does anyone know where to buy just a sending unit for an AutoMeter trans temp gauge? It has what looks like a 27 stamped on it. I have a boss in my Mag-Hytec diff cover and it'd be easy to put a toggle on the gauge sending wires.

Also. Alan. That comment about the panties had me laughing pretty good.

 

Very cool Fat! Is the Corona cap for size reference? Gotta Love It!

 

Thanks Lance. The cap is there for that very reason.

 

That is awesome! i wish i had the knowledge and machines to make stuff like that for my truck, you would see so much aluminum stuff....

 

Fat do you need a 1 wire or 2 wire sender? I ended up with an extra 1 wire sender for an Autometer 90* sweep Phantom II trans temp.

 

I'm jealous!!!
I would love to have that sort of machine shop as well.
VERY nice work.

 

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Alan- I would really like to get two senders, one for the diff and one spare. Plus I'd hate to take your spare.

I've learned virtually all I know about machining in the last year. I'd recommend any kind of shop classes at either community colleges or vocational centers. I scored a really nice Bridgeport mill for my dad about a year ago and he immediately took a class in machining. He's got Ford's (and an old 1913 Oakland and a new super secret underslung chassis from a hundred year old electric car - Wisconsin T head speedster project) dating back 98 years now as well as a couple of deuce Fords. He uses his mill quite a bit now after never using one in his life.

You gain a lot of knowledge in measuring and general tolerancing as well.

I know it's a little off topic, but here's one of the old timers my dad has restored:

I drove it a hundred miles a few months ago. WAY MORE stares than a brand new Ferrari would get. At one point it had been converted into a pickup truck. That's an all wood body that you can see your reflection in. I think he sanded it for about ten years.

 

Fat sent you a PM

 

Fat,
You didn't by chance get a photo of the PTO gear did you?

 

This is the best pic of the cover removed.