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Wondering where the water temp sender location is for an '89 302.
Gauge hasn't worked since I finished the valve job.
Where I think it is doesn't effect the gauge even when the harness terminals are connected.
Want to make sure I'm working in the correct location before I start tracking the wiring down since it is in a van.
That would be the one in the thermostat housing?
That one, when disconnected only lets the engine start and run for a few seconds then dies. Reconnect it and the engine runs.
Yes this is EFI.
That tells me that the wiring is good and probably the sensor is good as well.
Don't remember a sensor being on the intake manifold but then again that's not what I was looking for.
Look just behind the distributor (I think that's where it is). It is just one wire with a 90 degree rubber boot on the end of it, and it pushes onto the sensor in the intake manifold. It's just a threaded rod sticking up, and that's what you connect the wire to. It is separate from the sensor for the computer, the one you unplugged on the thermostat housing.
As mentioned, it should be threaded into the intake. Look just to the right of the distributor, and just a couple of inches back. It's just off of the forward-most fuel injector on the driver's side (#5).
Should you ever want to add a mechanical temp gauge (in addition to the stocker), a brass tee turned up on end will just fit (barely clearing the #5 fuel injector) in the threaded intake port. The longer, narrow mechanical sender bulb will fit straight downward, through the longest part of the tee into the intake, and the stock sending unit will fit in the perpendicular end, and should have just enough internal clearance to miss the mechanical sending bulb by 1/16" or so. Just passing this on FYI. It's really nice to have a real gauge for the sake of comparison, but you hate to leave the stock ones hanging dead in the cluster.