Very helpful thread, stickied to my list of "Things To Do." Special thanks to Aaron and NZ (great diagram).

 

http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...=egnsearch.asp


that dont appear to haVE the low and peak of the gauge.. does anyone know??

 

You dont really need the low and peak functions. If you are watching your gauges like you're supposed to it's not really any issue. Also for something like temperature or pressure I dont recommend digital gauges. Analog is easy to moniter in my opinion.

 

Also try http://www.egauges.com/

 

well i would pefer digital.. i have a pretty good idea brewing in my head... i think ill cut out the stock ones and insert the digitals in...i deff wann know dith digital though

 

cyberdyne gauges had the peaks, not summit

 

Here's how I did mine.

I used the Autometer Z series water temp gauge. Came with sensor, adapter, and wiring. I chose to put mine into the block and leave the stock gauge intact to compare the Autometer gauge numbers with the position of the stock gauge to get a better idea of what the numbers on the Autometer represented.

On the front iron at the very bottom there is a threaded plug with a hex key on top. This plug is for the coolant system but is not the main coolant drain plug. Really I'm not sure what this is for except maybe a second coolant drain for some reason. If you take this out with a hex key, the provided adapter that came with my Autometer gauge threaded into its place PERFECTLY. I then threaded in the temp sensor into the adapter already in the block.

Pics.






When the stock gauge is just under 1/4 my Autometer reads just under 180º. With the stock gauge at 1/4 the Autometer reads 180º to 185º. With the stock gauge between 1/4 and 1/2 the Autometer reads 185º to 195º. With the stock gauge at ~1/2 or a little past the Autometer reads 200º to 210º, and so on.

 

thanx ddub..

 

So, is that dead-on with what other people experience? I have mine before the thermostat, but if your position works well, I might switch it there; I really dont care to take my water pump and housing out right now since I have a mess of other things to do to my FC..

 

Seems the location I'm using is pretty accurate with temps compared to the stock gauge when compared to what I've read for what temperatures equate to what position on the gauge.

Another good way to tell it works is you can tell exactly when the thermostat opens. It will actually hit 180º on the gauge, and go past maybe 1º and then drop into the 170's. This is of course when I'm just idling and not pushing the car hard causing a rise in temps. But it's pretty cool, I can also watch it hit the temp that my e-fan is set to and imediately hear the click and fan turn on. So I'd say it's pretty accurate.

 

Sweet, good information Ddub..

 

Super newb at guages here but it seems like you've made hooking up a guage easy ddub, so basically all i do is take out that thing with a hex key, put in the threaded adapter and i'm done? what else do i have to do, unless u got a site that shows how to put one on? i'll do this too while i have money. thanks

-Andrew

 

Take out that plug, thread in the adapter with temp sender, hook wire to temp sender, run wire to gauge, hook up switched power/ground to gauge, and you're done.

Note, if it wasn't obvious already, but that plug will empty your whole block of coolant when you take it out, so yah take precautions

 

You can take out the stock water temp sensor without much coolant coming out at all

 

I wanted to retain the stock gauge for comparison against the Autometer one, though.

 

Yea I know. Just wondering how long your adapter is and if your sensor actually sees actual coolant flow.

EDIT: Surprised to see your NA runs as hot as my t2.

 

Huh? How would it not see coolant flow? That's a plug for the coolant system and the sensor rises as the engine temps rise just fine. I don't see it being any different than the stock location.

Oh and I wouldn't consider either of our cars running "hot" at those temps. I mean the thermostat opens at 180º and that's where my temp is hovering around most the time, sometimes going to 185ish. I also have a main underdrive pulley which makes me surprised it doesn't run hotter at times, but I'm glad it doesn't.

 

I should have worded it better. I guess I wanted to ask how much coolant flow does the actual sensor get with it attached to the adapter. I just ask because some adapters extend the actual sensor farther away from the intended location and could throw off readings.

 

With the sensor in the adapter it sits flush with the end of the adapter (plug) so it's the same length. Either way it wouldn't matter. Think about it, the adapter has a threaded hole through it that the sensor goes into. So even if it doesn't reach the ende there is still a hole and coolant will spread out as far as it can in that cavity of the engine. So if there is a slight opening in the adapter with the sensor a tad farther back, coolant will still go into it. I mean there's nothing else in the system besides coolant (unless of course you have air pockets) so it's not like the coolant is going to magically sit away from the sensor with a pocket of air or something in between, ya know?

 

sorry to steal the thread =D
but i want to ask if the gauges on Ebay are reliable or not

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...category=33682

or are they a waste of money?

Thanks

 

just to bump the thread,

http://store.summitracing.com/partde...&view=1&N=700+

this one from summit comes with the sender. yippee!!

 

so everyone putting it in front or rear iron?

 

If you check the FAQ, there are a good number of threads linked referring to sender placement. The best place is somewhere in the water pump housing. Either at the back, or at the front. Placing the sender in the front iron is not ideal.

 

alrighty..people are talking about Where to place the Sender.I am Asking If I could Relocate the Stock sender to say,the Upper Rad Hose(with an adaptive thingie,for placing a Sender in the Hose),and then Using the Stock Location to Install the Aftermarket sender?..but I like D Dub's Place to Put it..so to speak!

 

The only problem with relocating the sensor to the upper rad hose is that it is after the thermostat. It won't read until the thermostat has warmed up and may show wrong readings if the thermostat closes. In addition it will not warn you of a thermostat failure.

With an aftermarket gauge these might not be big deals.

One thing to keep in mind about the stock sensor location is that there are several different thread patterns used depending on which block you have. Could be a BSPT, metric pipe, or straight. Most aftermarket senders are 1/8" NPT.