I replaced the water pump Sat, has a small drip, couple oz. a day probably. I also putt in a new Thermostat, and a new housing. I did snap off the sensor when I was taking off the Heater hose pipe. No biggy, went to Advance and got a new one. It didn't work, multimeter across the sensor showed no resistance. Ok, got a bad sending unit. It was the only one they had, I live in a very small town, only other place open was Napa. Went there and got a new one. Still didn't work, socket broke it when I was taking it back out, so I am not sure if it was bad or not, but figured so. Went to the big city and got another, third times a charm, right. I made sure to take a multimeter with me, just to make sure it was good when we left the store. It was, got it home, put it in, gauge didn't move. This is the same truck we just drove 150 miles, so it had some heat in it, took a voltage reading at the connector, it was good, shorted out the connector, gauge pegged, gauge is good, resistance reading from the connector through splice S201 to the chassis, reads good. Fuel gauge and water temp gauge also use the same ground, no problems with the fuel gauge. The only thing I can figure is that Ford does something different to their sending units to work in our truck. NCHornet says to only use ford gauges and i thing he is correct. Has anyone else had this problem, and if we can only use ford sending units, why are they selling them at the parts store?

Any input would be greatly appreciated
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They sell them at the parts stores because people will buy them. There have been numerous stories about bad aftermarket CPS units, but that doesn't stop them from selling those either.

As you said, you had to try 3 different sensors just to get a good ohm reading. Are you really surprised that finding one that actually works as advertised from the parts stores might be difficult at best?

 

Yea, i learned my leason, i bought a Ford OEM sending unit, and guess what, it worked like a charm.

 

And now you know the rest of the story. There really is a reason we recommend the things we do. Most of this knowledge comes from learning by others who have made all the wrong choices and shared it with us so we can make the right ones.