Water Temp Sensor broken

[Kcwiro]

Hey, I have an autogauge/autometer temp sender in a hose adapter on my upper radiator hose. I am only gettign like 125* F reading at best which is so not right.

I was interested to know what I could check to see if I have something wrongly positioned or if my sender is just fubar

[vrg3]

Has the sender ever worked?

Most coolant temperature senders like this have one wire attached to them, and are grounded through their bodies. Does this sender have only one wire? If so, is there an all-metal path between it and the engine?

[Kcwiro]

Yeah, Single wire with pipe tape around the threads to ensure a good seal.


Answer other question... only time I got a full reading was when i was orignally installing branching off my factory water temp sender and for some reason my fans wouldn't kick on so I would max out on the temp.

With the sender I using in pipe never worked a reading past 125

[vrg3]

Yeah, ordinarily you can't share one sensor with two gauges (or the ECU).

Run a ground wire from the sender to a bolt on the intake manifold.

[Kcwiro]

would not grounding it properly produce what I am seeing?

I mean I have my three guage kit grounded together inside my car but I do not have a individual one for the water temp...

I'm just curious for more input on the grounding of the sender part

[vrg3]

would not grounding it properly produce what I am seeing?

It could.

I mean I have my three guage kit grounded together inside my car but I do not have a individual one for the water temp...

You have to ground both ends. The resistance between the sender's body and the sender's wire varies with temperature. The gauge measures the resistance between ground and the wire going to the sender.

I'm just curious for more input on the grounding of the sender part

What would you like to know?

[Kcwiro]

I don't have my wire at work with me atm so I can't try that just this second. Anyway, I was curious to know if when I am grounding the sender to the intake if I have to ensure the wire doesn't touch the wire leading to the guage or it doesn't matter.

or how might I want to ground it it is like this atm



probe end--------{||threads||}----[signal wire]----->to guage kit

sorry not easy to diagram really

[vrg3]

You're using automotive hookup wire, right? Stranded conductors and sturdy insulation?

It's okay for the insulation to touch. Don't let them make electrical contact, of course.

[Kcwiro]

You're using automotive hookup wire, right?

Stranded conductors and sturdy insulation?

I have some plastic conduit aroudn the wire under my hood its 18guage wire recommended for the guage pack might be off in guage since I did these last summer

It's okay for the insulation to touch. Don't let them make electrical contact, of course.

so where would I likely wnat to put the grounding part to avoid contact?

this is the sender I got .. least looks like this one

http://store.summitracing.com/default.a ... search.asp

atm-2253

[vrg3]

Okay, yeah, you definitely need to ground the body.

Is the hose adapter you're using made of a conductive metal? If it is, you could probably attach your grounding strap to a hose clamp tightened securely around the adapter.

I'm not talking about conduit when I say "insulation." I mean the plastic that's on the wire. It's kind of a dumb question to ask whether you're using insulated wire, since you pretty much never use bare wire on a car, but I just wanted to make sure.

[Kcwiro]

http://www.steigerperformance.com/products/sp40001.html
that is what I got in my hose

[vrg3]

Ah.

Read the instructions for that adapter fully. The manufacturer provided a means to ground the sensor. Follow the directions.

[Kcwiro]

*looks*


.... well shoot ok I'm observant well I will find that guy and put it on the sender and let you know how it behaives after that.

thanks fo rthe help

[vrg3]

No problem. Good luck!