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I currently have the temperature warning light disconnected and use a mechanical temperature gauge. Last night I was cruising down the road and my radiator hose popped off. Thankfully I was looking in my side view mirror and saw a big puff of white steam come out the rear of the car, so I was able to shut her down pretty quick. I'm worried now that I may not see the temp gauge if something like this happens again. Is there a way to hook up the mechanical temperature gauge and the warning light? I know you can do this with the oil gauge but can't find anything on the temp gauge.
The problem you have is the sensor has to be in the water flow so you can't T off your original port. If you have an additional port you can use it for the idiot light, or you can drill and tap a port somewhere on the manifold.
Or if you are like me, you glance at the gauges every 30 seconds or so. I never realized I did that until on a road trip back in college a friend pointed it out to me. He said it was like clockwork, I would look in the rear view mirror, look down at the gauges, look forward, then repeat.
Or if you are like me, you glance at the gauges every 30 seconds or so. I never realized I did that until on a road trip back in college a friend pointed it out to me. He said it was like clockwork, I would look in the rear view mirror, look down at the gauges, look forward, then repeat.
Is there a way to hook up the mechanical temperature gauge and the warning light?
Originally Posted by oldcutlass
If you have an additional port you can use it for the idiot light, or you can drill and tap a port somewhere on the manifold.
You can also do this:
On my '78 Toro, the temperature sensor was built into the ignition system. That stopped working long ago, so my car had no temperature sensor at all, neither gauge nor idiot light. The port on the engine where it would normally go had a plug screwed into it that not even Superman could have loosened, so I just left it and put this in instead. It connects to a gauge mounted under the dash and works very well.
It may not have the "optics" that you might like to have when you open the hood at a car show, but if you want to have a temperature gauge along with the idiot light, don't have an available port on the engine, and don't want to start drilling and tapping into the engine, this is one way to go.
Thanks to everyone for your comments. After reading Eric's post I pulled up a pic of the manifold and it looks like there is a second threaded port to install the idiot light sensor. DUH! I don't know why I didn't pay attention to that before. Does anyone have a part number for the sensor? My local part stores say it's not available to them. Need the one for a light not a rally gauge.
Rock Auto shows two styles - blade or button connector (Standard Motor Products TS11 blade or TS6 button).
You should be able to get that from just about any auto parts store. http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/o...+/+sensor,4748
Laudable as the practice of constantly monitoring the gauges is, an idiot light as well can only be a good thing.
Seems you can fit one without disturbing the originality of your car as well.
Seems like win/win to me. Don't forget to keep monitoring the gauges though.
Thankfully I was looking in my side view mirror and saw a big puff of white steam come out the rear of the car, so I was able to shut her down pretty quick. I'm worried now that I may not see the temp gauge if something like this happens again. Is there a way to hook up the mechanical temperature gauge and the warning light? I know you can do this with the oil gauge but can't find anything on the temp gauge.
