Cool '72 302
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Senior User
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 294
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From: Calgary Canada
Cool '72 302
My '72 302 F-100 temperature never goes much higher than about half way to the first mark on the stock temperature guage. I have tried putting in a new 195 degree thermostat but it doesn't seem to make any difference.
I read recently, in the manual, that the temperature sensor threads should be coated in electrically conductive paste but I see that mine has teflon tape on it. Would that be causing my problem. Although the temperature guage shows cool the heater puts out lots of heat so I suspect that it might be the gauge.
Any ideas?
I read recently, in the manual, that the temperature sensor threads should be coated in electrically conductive paste but I see that mine has teflon tape on it. Would that be causing my problem. Although the temperature guage shows cool the heater puts out lots of heat so I suspect that it might be the gauge.
Any ideas?
Posting Guru
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 2,415
Likes: 3
From: Comox Valley, Canada
Cool '72 302
I guess it doesnt show temp in numbers so how low is low/normal ??The tape could be part of the problem, as teflon is a halfway decent insulator.
Try removing the tape and cleaning the threads of the sensor. Also clean the wire connector (or better yet replace it with a new one). Then put a little dielectric grease, or vaseline on the sender threads and hookup the wire and try it.
There could be a high resistance, read corosion, somewhere in the wire from the sender to the guage. This increased resistance will cause the guage to read low.
If you ground the sensor wire the guage should go offscale hot, dont do this for a very long time as it could hurt the guage. But that check really only proves the guage will go full scale, would have to be a very corroded wire to stop it from pegging over.
You can always try a new sensor I dont think they are very expensive, and if it still reads low it is most likely a wire problem.
Sparky
Wait a sec..... Check and make sure the sensor is getting a good ground thru the engine block, that will cause this problem.
And another thought.... if all the instruments are reading low could be a bad instrument voltage regulator.
Try removing the tape and cleaning the threads of the sensor. Also clean the wire connector (or better yet replace it with a new one). Then put a little dielectric grease, or vaseline on the sender threads and hookup the wire and try it.
There could be a high resistance, read corosion, somewhere in the wire from the sender to the guage. This increased resistance will cause the guage to read low.
If you ground the sensor wire the guage should go offscale hot, dont do this for a very long time as it could hurt the guage. But that check really only proves the guage will go full scale, would have to be a very corroded wire to stop it from pegging over.
You can always try a new sensor I dont think they are very expensive, and if it still reads low it is most likely a wire problem.
Sparky
Wait a sec..... Check and make sure the sensor is getting a good ground thru the engine block, that will cause this problem.
And another thought.... if all the instruments are reading low could be a bad instrument voltage regulator.
