Aftermarket water temp. guage sucessfully installed
#1
01-08-2007, 10:01 PM
Aftermarket water temp. guage sucessfully installed
I had posted on this matter before, specifically how to plumb in a second water temp. guage and didn't get much feedback. My reason for wanting the second guage is that I was not really comfortable with the "general vagueness" of the "C" "H" factory guage and I prefer to actually see the numbers that the temp. is registering. My angst in this regard got that much worse after I installed the twin electric fans because they seemed to be running a lot, even in the cold Alberta winter climate. Then, to make matters worse, the factory guage got really flaky, registering, then falling all the way to "C", then popping back up to "N" or "O" on the normal scale. I checked all the connections and finally chnaged out the temp. sensor for a new one. Well, that fixed the problem with the guage and now it reads consistently in the "O" to "R" on the scale.
Unfortunately, that did not address my need to see actual numbers of degrees of engine temp. so I went back to the thinking board. I ended up plumbing into the "tree" that sits on top of the block, just above and behind, to the left, of the thermostat housing. This "tree" feeds hot a/f to the upper heater hose, the throttle body heating plumbing and the EEC water temp sending unit. I disassembled the whole thing and took it off of the engine block. I drilled and tapped a new hole right through the top of the housing for the sender for the Hastings electric water temp. guage that I bought. The rest of the wiring was pretty much by the book and I just tapped into existing wiring under the dash for the power, lights and grounds.
I ended up installing the guage in the area where the a/c vent used to be on the RH side of the drivers guage pod. I don't have a/c anymore since the compressor seized up and even when I do put the new a/c unit in I don't think I'll miss the vent output that much. I fabricated a new piece to fit in the space left by the removed vent out of a hard plastic mixing board that I had left over from the wheel well repair adventure and adhesed this in place after carefully holing out a 21/8" hole for the guage. The guage just slid in perfectly and then I further bonded the piece from the backside with a glue gun. I hooked everything up onto the back side of the guage and reinstalled all of the dash pieces. I posted pictures of the finished job in my gallery under the guages section. If you have a minute check it out and let me know what you think of the look of the installation.
The guage works perfectly and now I know exactly how hot the motor is running. You can watch it come up to temp, just crest 195deg and then fall back just a bit when the t-stat opens up. The OEM guage and the aftermarket job both climb at the same rate and just so you know, at 195degrees the OEM guage is sitting on the "R" of normal.
The fans still run a lot, however I am confident that they are doing the job that they are supposed to do and the motor is running at the proper temps. I'm pretty sure that the fans run a lot because they are set to kick on at 215degress and I placed the sensor at the hottest point of the rad, just by the upper outlet to the t-stat.
Goodness, I think that this is my longest post ever.
Cheers!
Mike
Unfortunately, that did not address my need to see actual numbers of degrees of engine temp. so I went back to the thinking board. I ended up plumbing into the "tree" that sits on top of the block, just above and behind, to the left, of the thermostat housing. This "tree" feeds hot a/f to the upper heater hose, the throttle body heating plumbing and the EEC water temp sending unit. I disassembled the whole thing and took it off of the engine block. I drilled and tapped a new hole right through the top of the housing for the sender for the Hastings electric water temp. guage that I bought. The rest of the wiring was pretty much by the book and I just tapped into existing wiring under the dash for the power, lights and grounds.
I ended up installing the guage in the area where the a/c vent used to be on the RH side of the drivers guage pod. I don't have a/c anymore since the compressor seized up and even when I do put the new a/c unit in I don't think I'll miss the vent output that much. I fabricated a new piece to fit in the space left by the removed vent out of a hard plastic mixing board that I had left over from the wheel well repair adventure and adhesed this in place after carefully holing out a 21/8" hole for the guage. The guage just slid in perfectly and then I further bonded the piece from the backside with a glue gun. I hooked everything up onto the back side of the guage and reinstalled all of the dash pieces. I posted pictures of the finished job in my gallery under the guages section. If you have a minute check it out and let me know what you think of the look of the installation.
The guage works perfectly and now I know exactly how hot the motor is running. You can watch it come up to temp, just crest 195deg and then fall back just a bit when the t-stat opens up. The OEM guage and the aftermarket job both climb at the same rate and just so you know, at 195degrees the OEM guage is sitting on the "R" of normal.
The fans still run a lot, however I am confident that they are doing the job that they are supposed to do and the motor is running at the proper temps. I'm pretty sure that the fans run a lot because they are set to kick on at 215degress and I placed the sensor at the hottest point of the rad, just by the upper outlet to the t-stat.
Goodness, I think that this is my longest post ever.
Cheers!
Mike
