Satellitecentral

I just thought I would share a Bad Day with everyone,
The Temp Sender/Sensor on my 66 Dynamic 88 , was playing up, no big deal , i,m off today I,ll change it out?

First error , went to 4 off the Chain Auto Parts stores........
I really should have know better
Spotty Teenagers and Computers .....
One place diden,t know how to work their Computer, one told me that my car wasent equiped with a sender, one stared Blankly an asked "huh?" an the last place "it,s to old , we wouldent do it"

Went Home , took the sender out off the Car an returned , to let them see that YES it does have one
Blank Stare, scratchs head , But the Computer says It dont have one ?
Time to leave before I take said sales person buy the throat

Waited till 5 PM , went back , cause I knew a guy I could trust started at 5 PM,
Took it in , my buddy found it on the Computer in 10 seconds, hadent got one, ordered it, an it,ll be here tomorrow

Is it just me or do the Chains , not give a crap about customer service , or is it staffing ?
The Old guys , can find stuff in seconds , an seem to take a pride in their job,s
What the hell are we gonna do when the "Old School" retires?

Just on a side not, by the way your gonna love this one

I had got 4 key blanks off ebay for my Car, Took them to Ace Hardware an asked if they would please cut them , I would pay whatever they normally charge for a key an cutting .

I SWEAR on my live this is what I got

"Sorry we dont do that, the key blanks you have may be too Hard , an would damage our machines cutting disc, an they cost $100 each"

This time I left Scrathing my head , I mean , I dident think the keys were made from finest quality KRIPTONITE

OK , I,n done ranting , Feel better now ,
Amyone else have some Amusing Stories off this type ?

blkmonday

there is nothing like a good old independant parts store. the chains sell cheap brands that are usually faulty and your usually going back a few times before they sell you the right part. the only time i use the chains are for when they have oil on sale..or i need to stock up on wd-40.
i work for a company that makes fastners...we service home depots and im in an out of home depots all day long. and i cant tell you how many times ive heard customers complain that they miss the local hardware stores. im lucky enough to live in a town where there is still a local parts store and a couple of local hardware stores. all of which ive been loyal to for more years than id like to admit...it sucks when the chains run the local guys out of town and leave us with horrible parts and service.

Satellitecentral

I forgot to ask,
I hooked up my aftermarket Temp Gauge in the mean time , to see if I was right about it running a bit hot,

It,s reading 195 def F and very occasionally 200 Deg F
I,m guess thats a bit on the Hot side ?

Was planning to do a good Flush off the system , refill with coolant, if thts no better
I guess it,s time for a Thermostat,
friend was saying , get a 180 Deg one , and make sure its a High Flow one ?

any thoughts

rustyold66

Funny...I was just at a buddy's garage and we needed some studs for a project. It's a small town north of Mpls/St. Paul so I went to the local Ace Hardware. Went to the fastener aisle and was immediately overwhelmed. I didn't know there was so much to studs. Then I heard a voice behind me. It was an employee who proceeded to ask the right questions and then found exactly what I was looking for. She was about 65 years old, bless her heart.

So my point is (I had a point???) yeah - it's nice when you can still get great service at these little stores. And it's usually the older folks. Not always, but usually. Shoot - I'm almost one of them....even though I try to tell myself 40 is the new 30.....

BILL DEMMER

your engine calls for a 180* thermostat. it was likely replaced at some point with a 195* thermostat, which was common on later years. 195*-200* is not a problem, but, i would go with the 180*. if you drive it like a sane person, you don't need a high-flow t-stat. how is the rest of the cooling system, especially the radiator?


bill

Satellitecentral

Rest off the cooling system is fine ,
It looks like a practically new Rad was put in just before I bought her
Guy was telling the truth

I also topped off the coolant a bit , it was a bit, not a lot low, that was my fault I took a hose off to get to the oil pressure sender , an lost a bit

I will get a 180 deg one as recommended ,
I guess i,m just a bit over causious , since I moved to Georgia, things get hot in a hurry down here
and as it,s my First Resto/Hobby Car , I,m trying my very best to do it Right every time , no shortcuts will be accepted .

Next on the agenda , is a 4 Barrel, an a nice intake

88 coupe

If that chain is Checker, Schuck's, Kragen, Murray's, or Advance, you could have looked up the part# here, printed the page, and handed it to the person at the counter.

Same deal at Autozone.

Norm

marinus_

I also purchased blank keys off of ebay. I went to three places that said they couldn't cut the keys because thier computer didn't recognize them.
When I went to the local home hardware store they had an old school key machine and it was no problem. The old guy there didn't even charge me to do it.

joe_padavano

The chain stores don't pay much (to keep costs down) so turnover is high. I've found that the computer database is often wrong (Advanced had swapped the listing for brake rotors for my wife's Civic). Old cars are a real problem for them.

It's not just the parts stores. I'm really sick and tired of the "we have to sell you four tires because of the ABS" crap. If that were true, none of these cars would ever be able to go around corners (do the math and figure out how much faster the outside tire turns on a sharp corner...). It's due to aggravations like this that I went out and bought my own tire changer and balancer (Craigslist is a wonderful thing). I also got an old manual key cutter (punch) and decoder book so I can now cut my own keys for GMs. The book even lets me determine the key profile from the four digit number on the lock cylinder.

rocketraider

My question is, did they give you the correct two-terminal sending unit? Or did you get one of them one-size-fits-all single terminal generic replacements?

I have taken to haunting ebay for stuff like this since it shows up pretty frequently, generally cheaper than modern parts stores and I can often find NOS GM parts. I check them against my parts books and know they're right for the car.

I'm especially partial to points and other ignition stuff. AC-Delco hasn't stocked a decent set of points since the mid-80s, and I can get old stock that was made right and made in USA.

Anyhoo, Satellite- my money says your COLD light doesn't work with the new sender.

I have a dealer tech bulletin here somewhere that addressed thermostat usage. Factory changed over to the Robertshaw high-flow style sometime in the early 1970s and DTB recommended any earlier car that was in for cooling system service also get changed over esp if it had a Dole flapper-type stat.

Seems that after nearly 30 years of Dole flappers, some dealer techs still had trouble orienting them for correct flow and either didn't solve or created overheating issues. That had become critical with emission-controlled engines, which ran leaner and hotter.

"we have to sell you four tires because of the ABS"- not so much ABS-driven, but lawyer-driven. Atticus Finches are few and far between. Sharks and ambulance-chasers are common as dirt.

joe_padavano

Yeah, that was exactly my first reaction as well. Of course, they probably sold him a newer two-prong sender from a 307, where one terminal works the idiot light and one works the warning chime.

Amen, however I'm sure the tire companies find this an awfully convenient selling tactic as well. I frequently see ads on Craigslist for THREE nearly new tires.

Satellitecentral

Havent been down to pick it up yet , I,ll go on the way to work Tomorrow , an look at it, but i,m pretty sure it,s a newer version, hard to say until it gets here , all I know is it has 2 prongs .
Nice if it was the Origional type part , but you get what you can get,
I,m planning to plumb the thing in as well as have the Temp Gauge working as well,
have idiot light with the gauge as my Real reading, same plan as with the Oil Sender idiot light plus gauge for pressure reading

Satellitecentral

Regarding the keys,
Can you post a pic off your Punch/cutter
never seen one

rustyold66

When it comes to ABS, I was taught that the important thing is the keep the new set of tires as close to original OD (within 15%) as possible, due to ABS and engine management calculations. You shouldn't be pressured into buying 4 tires because of ABS.

When it comes to AWD or 4WD - that's another story. Replacing 1 or 2 tires can have adverse affects on the drivetrain.

joe_padavano

I'll ask my question again. How is a 1/4" difference in tire diameter any different than going around corners, where the outside tire travels further and thus must spin faster?

Satellitecentral

Just back in , I was out changing the thermostat , I went down to the auto parts store where my buddy works an picked up my Temp Switch, and piced up a new 180 deg failsafe Thermostat an gasket.

Installed the State an ran the car up, No Problem , it,s running cooler as it should , It had a 195 State in it, it,s now opning at 180 an drops back, so I guess thats that sorted .

Just went out after reading the above posts, an tried the Temp switch, just wired it up outside the block, hadent time to start doing it tonight, anyway
Its a

WELLS TU42 TEMP SWITCH

2 prong,s an d YES the Cold light seems to work perfectly, well as far as I can tell, after all it,s just sitting outside an not screwed in