The coolant temperature guage on my 93 Ranger isn't working. I was looking at a diagram of the location of it, and it says its on the intake manifold, but it was not where it was supposed to be. There was a plug in its place. But in the coolant lines coming out of the firewall for the heater, there is a sensor spliced in. It is located right above the alternator. Is this the coolant sensor?
Thanks,
Julien

 

Might be. What color is the wire coming out of it, and what does it look like? Is it a one wire or two wire sensor?

I would suggest buying a new sensor from any auto parts store (cheap), and putting it where it's supposed to be and the wire should be right there for it.

 

Look for a 2-wire sensor with LG/R and GY/R color wires.

I don't know much about the older 4-bangers, but try following the upper radiator hose to the engine and look around in that area.

 

I just went out and checked, and the sensor by the alternator does have the LG/R and GY/R wires. So I guess thats the sensor then. I'll replace it ASAP. Thanks for the help.

 

The two wire sensor is for the PCM signal of how warm the engine is. It doesn't effect the gauge.

The one wire sensor is the one you need, it should be located right about where the upper radiator hose meets the intake manifold. You say there is a plug in this place. As I said before, remove this plug, buy a sender, install it in that location, and hook the wire up. The wire should be right there, it has a "boot" at the end.

 

Oops, I misread the Julien's initial post. Zach is correct - you want the SINGLE WIRE SENSOR (BK/LB color wire) which is commonly called a "temperature sender" or "temperature sending switch". It's for the instrument cluster gauge.

Good catch Zach.

 

The upper radiator hose does not connect to the intake manifold on a 2.3. The unit for the gauge is called a "sender" not a "sensor." The sender should be located in the block, drivers side to the rear up next to the cylinder head. It is just below the oil sending unit. The temp sender has one wire. It is usually easier to see from the bottom. jd

 

I am by no means a 4cyl. guy but I would think it may be on the thermostat housing

 

I put the truck up on ramps today, and looked at it from underneath, like jd said, and I found a one wire sender. At the back of the block is the oil sending unit. It is about 1.5" in diameter and has a gold stud coming out of it. Then down 2 inches, and towards the front 2-3 inches, under the intake manifold, but still on the block, is another unit. It is about 3/4" diameter, and also has a gold stud coming out of it. There is one wire and it is red with white stripes. Is this it?

 

Yep. That is the temperature sender.

Again, I have to correct myself. I was looking at the wrong '93 wiring diagram for the instrument cluster ("Sport" Package) when I should have been looking at the diagram for the "Standard" Ranger. That's why I previously gave the wrong wire colors. Sorry about that.

I've double-checked, and you definitely want the R/WH wire.

 

Nice!!! Thats what I wanted to hear. It shouldn't be too bad to get out. The one I ordered from the dealership should be in tomorrow, and I can replace my coolant at the same time. Thanks again for the help!

 

Well I put it in this afternoon. I also changed the thermostat while I was at it, and the coolant, cause the PO never even checked the stuff. It was pretty much black.

Another question though. How high should the temp gauge be showing? With the new sender in there, at least the needle moves, but it barely goes past the first line into the normal zone. I took it for a highway drive too to get it warmed up.

 

If you have a multimeter you could check things out:

http://autozone.com/az/cds/en_us/090...rInfoPages.htm

FWIW, I looked at the Ford manual and the specs given in the AZ guide are correct.