Ford F-150 SC, 302 FI, 2WD. 255,000 miles ... Orig Eng and Oil Pump.

My Water Temp Gauge has been dead over 5 years (banked at the low end)... Need A replacement and it's not the sending unit.

Now very irratic Oil gauge fluctuates only when engine gets warmed up like after 30 minutes. Gauge stays stable on NORMAL otherwise.

Does this sound like a bad sending unit? Where is the oil sending unit located?

Are there aftermarket replacements for the Ford gauges?

How do I access the gauges like is the instrument cluster front removeable?

Is it best to go to a junk yard to get another Instrument panel and get the gauges?

Are all the gauges...Fuel, Water Temp, Battery Voltage, Oil Pressure the same?

Any help very much appreciated.

 

get an aftermarket gauge. Any performance shop will have one or any autoparts store can get you one




Jim

 

Go with aftermarket. AutoZone, and Advance sell Sun pro gauges, and napa has a higer end line.

 

sending unit is located besides oil filter cost about six bucks

 

Depending on what year truck you have .... Most just have a pressure switch. Pre 1990 have the resistor for the circuit on the sending unit, causing fluctuations when the engine heats up. Ford "Fixed" this problem/phenomenon in 1990 by moving the resistor to the gauge cluster. If you have an 89 or older with the switch, you can convert it into a Real gauge by using a sending unit for a TBird V8 ... mid 90's I believe, I bought it all with the Tach Cluster from an 89 then found one for 90-91 and used it instead. If you have 90 or newer you have to bypass the resistor on the cluster to get it to work with the real variable output sending unit from the TBird.

Changing the sending unit will probably fix your problem, and I would guess you have 89 or older since this was a common complaint and the reason why ford change the design for 90.

 

89 and older still had a variable resistance oil pressure sender, not a switch...