So I was changing out the water pump and bumped the temp sensor that screws into the top of the water pump and broke it. Got a new one and got it installed but now the temp guage does not work(worked fine before).

I have made sure the connector clicks down on there good. I guess there is a possibility Icould have gotten a bad one.

Is there any way to test these?

 

I am not sure about testing it but I have had sensors before that somehow get one of the pins bent over. So I say unplug it and check to make sure the pins are there and OK. If not the pins I say that maybe you did get a bad sensor or the wrong sensor. Where did you buy the sensor?

 

There are two different type of sensors: One is for the gauge, and one goes to something that can be seen on the OBDII port. So... one is for us, and one is for another vehicle. It's easy for the parts guy to get it wrong.

 

Where is the sensor for the OBDII port? and are they the same size?

I went ahead and ordered another from AZ last night. We will see when I get it and hook it up today if the 1st one I bought was bad or not.

 

Maybe you ordered the wrong part. The temperature sensor tells the pcm what the coolant temp is and it is only found on trucks without automatic transmissions. The temperature sending unit tells the dashboard gauge what the coolant temperature is and is found on all the trucks, that is the one you need.

 

This was finally resolved after some legwork. If you ever have to go get a tempature sensor/sending unit just know that there are two of these on our trucks. They are exactly the same size, the same threads and the same plastic connector but are NOT interchangeable. The guy at Autozone where I bought the first one did not have a clue and his computer said both of them went in the intake manifold. Went to Oreilys and found a guy that works on ford diesels on the side. He knew the difference and just FYI it is the cheaper one of the two units that goes in the water pump. Glad to have a temp gauge again.

 

Good job! I lucked out when I did mine because the guy at the counter knew this already.