where would be a good place to mount il press and water temp senders for after market guages?

 

In the engine bay, lol.

Ive got mine on the firewall for easy access.

 

do they sell any kind of coolant tube with a hole for the sender? Ive seen it for other cars.

 

i am talking about some thing like this http://www.fcstore.com/inc/pdetail?v=1&pid=430

where would i mount the water temp sender?

 

bump

 

can somebody help. i have read in a search about putting the water temp in the thermostat housing. is that a good place? also i bought the oil pedistal for the oil press and temp.

 

i drilled and tapped the plastic thermostat housing and put the water temp sensor there.....as for the oil i dont know cause i dont have one...i can tell you that our stock water temp gauge in the cluster is a piece of ****


good luck

 

Install the water temp sensor in the water pump housing. Make sure that it is located BEFORE the thermostat. If it is located after the thermostat, the guage will not react to a thermostat that has failed closed.

As for the oil temp, FC3S.ORG sells a very nice adapter that goes under the filter. It supplies connections for oil guages. If you don't want to go that far, you could T into the stock oil pressure sender, but the reading on the gauge might not be as accurate.

 

Do you *have* to drill & tap the water pump housing to install this sucker? Isn't there SOMEONE who makes a setup that will go in the stock water temp location?

 

not that i know of and it isnt that hard to drill and tap the water pump

 

I just did this...It was a pain. There is a lot of labor involved. And hardly seems worth it just to install a friggin sender. Of course, I will be eating these words if something fails and the Temp gauge saves my engine

 

The other option for the water temp sender is to get one of those radiator hose adapters (GReddy sells them).  Too bad it's technically after the thermostat.



-Ted

 

that's just it, I don't want to yank the water pump and tap & drill it, I would *much* rather just find a sender that threads right into the stock location southwest of the oil filter.

 

The AutoMeter water temp sender will thread directly into the stock location. However the thread tapers are not identical so put a bead of High Temp Silicone (red) Form-A-Gasket around the sender threads before screwing it in to assure a water tight seal.
This also renders the stock guage non-operational, as opposed to just plain useless

 

uh oh, that would be terrible

Does it do ANYTHING at all? Besides the 1500 RPM idle till warm?

 

Ah man, this is getting complicated.

Maybe the ECU richens the fuel mixture when it thinks the engine is cold ... :-p

But I dont actually know that.

 

You're right, it does, but the ECU uses a different thermosensor to the gauge, so playing with gauges has no effect on it.

 

Correct - the ECU's Thermosensor is mounted in the thermostat housing (on an FD at least). replacing the Guage sender will have no effect on the ecu.

 

I might end up doing this then. But its going to annoy the crap out of me to have a dead gauge.

Maybe I could make it read someting else.

Later, I'll search and see what other people have done with that

 

Yep, FC's too. Right next to that thermosensor is a good spot to drill and tap for an aftermarket sensor.

 

is there any certin place in the water pump housing that is best.

 

I was thinking if you divide up the back side of the water pump housing into four parts, there are two sensors and a hose, that leaves a fourth little space. Anyone see a problem with tapping that spot with a 1/8 npt sender? I am in the process of this exact problem.

 

I have done this. Tapped the thermo housing. I did it after the thermostat. IF it fails I still have the stock gauge to tell me things aregetting hot. It was easy, although I have tapped other things befor so... there is a learning curve.

I also have the oil ped. and the 2 guages that go with it. Great product, easy install. I really like haveing the gauges.... well worth it.

 

it seems to me that there's a market for someone to make an adapter that screws into some spot on the coolant system (maybe the thermostat housing...?)

 

ok i think i am going to do what sunshine did. I have everything apart since i am rebuilding right now, so i am just going to tap the front of the waterpump housing like the picture shows. I just want it before the thermostat. Is the stock gauge sender before or after the thermostat? IIRC its the one on the thermostat neck right before the top filler cap. Now, my question. When I ordered my gauge, they gave me adapters, like 1/4 npt, 7/16 npt and one larger, I think 1/2. My actual sensor is 1/8 npt. I have a tap for 1/8 npt and 7/16 npt. Should I just tap and screw in the actual sensor, or should I tap for 7/16 npt and screw the adapter in, with the sensor inside it?
-Ben