Ferrariferg

iTrader: (3)

I'm trying to install a temporary temperature sensor for a water temp gauge and the best place I can find is the back of the water pump housing. I only need it until I can figure out why none of my gauges ,except speedo and tach, work. I've seen some people suggest tapping it for 5/8" but I don't want to drain my coolant again and remove the housing. Does anybody know if/where I can buy an adapter? The new temp sensor is 3/8" npt but I don't know the thread on the housing.

DarkDrakeX

if its temporary why would u drill anything??? Have u made a threat on the whole speedo/tach r only things working.. From what ive read check ur ignitors.. If one of the ignitors are bad alot of the guages wont work cuz thats were they draw there power from. If u have to do it tho u cud always take the stock one out and put the temp one in.

Ferrariferg

iTrader: (3)

The whole point is that I do not want to drill and tap anything. The temp sensor is larger than the stock sensor so I can not use the stock location. I want to use the location on the back of the water pump housing that normally holds the sensor for the automatic choke since I already disabled that system anyways. Others have suggested drilling and tapping the hole for the more common 5/8" npt. This requires draining the coolant and removing the housing to do the job easier and to prevent metal shavings from getting in to the cooling system. The tach gets it's signal from the trailing ignitor and it works fine and the speedo isn't electronic at all so it works. I've never heard of any of the other gauges getting power from the ignitors.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

First off, no one is tapping that hole for 5/8" NPT. That is HUMONGOUS. Also, 5/8" is not an American Standard pipe size. There is no such thing as 5/8" NPT. I think you meant 3/8" NPT.

The thread on the back of the water pump housing is a metric thread, as you would expect since our cars are Japanese. You won't be able to find a 3/8" NPT to metric adapter for it, because they are too similar in size. I tried way back in the day. If you want to put a 3/8" NPT sender in that hole you MUST tap the hole. There is no adapter that will do what you are asking.

You probably saw my thread about drilling and tapping a 2nd Gen water pump housing. You technically wouldn't have to drill your 1st Gen water pump housing, because the hole is already the correct size for a 3/8" NPT tap. You would just get a 3/8" NPT tap and run it thru the existing hole. You would still have to drain down the coolant and remove the housing though.

An alternative would be to get an aluminum 3/8" NPT hose adapter that goes inline in your radiator hose. Greddy sells one I think. You might also be able to find a temperature probe that could slip behind one of your radiator hose clamps and go directly into the radiator hose.

If you want to get your stock gauge fixed then I would concentrate on that. There's no reason to try and rig up a temporary gauge, when you really want to fix the stock one. Check the stock water temp sender on the driver's side of the engine. It usually sits right underneath the oil filter. Make sure it's hooked up, and that it is clean. A lot of times they will get covered in oil, or they just have a bad connection from years of corrosion. I would check that you have a good connection at the stock sender first.

Ferrariferg

iTrader: (3)

oops. Sorry. It was late and I got my sizes messed up. The new sensor isn't 3/8" its pretty small. Its slightly larger than the stock gauge sensor. It came with a 3/8" adapter if I do decide to tap it. I'll get the size of the new sensor either today or sunday. I've already tried to get the stock gauges working but I'm at a loss right now so I'm just going to use a couple temporary gauges until I can get the time and money to start weeding out problems.

Glazedham42

iTrader: (4)

In that case you may be able to find an adapter that would work. You'll have to figure out what thread the stock choke sensor used though. It is definitely not an NPT thread though. It is metric. You might be able to find a metric to NPT adapter that would fit the size of your new sender. Then you wouldn't have to drill or tap anything.

Ferrariferg

iTrader: (3)

Ok. I dug out the gauge and paper work. The new sensor is 1/8" npt. Anybody know what the thread size on the choke sensor is?

Ferrariferg

iTrader: (3)

Did some more digging and from what I can tell the stock threads are M16x1.5. Auto Meter even sells an adapter. Part number is 2268. I just ordered mine.

Hades12

sunpro has an adapter set that has the correct bushing. I got the set at pep Boys a long time ago, it is still in the wp in my SA allthough I have not used the guage in a while.

rxtasy3

iTrader: (2)

^was bout to say the sunpro i used had an adapter that worked.