Hello there fellas i have been looking around but i didt find anithing consistent on the matter, most of people cut the rad hose and put the adaptor with the brackets.

But i was thinking if somebody has put it in the engine block pre-thermosthat i think will be the most accurate readings. I think...

Let me know what you think

 

Search man, there are lots of useful threads with tons of discussion. That said I would use the throttle body/AWS location; behind the upper intake. anyway search!

 

some like the aws location stated above and some like to drill and tap the thermostat housing, on a manual car there is a nice flat spot where there is a sensor in auto cars.

 

I brought a set of Defi bf gauges, the sensors that come with them are massive, so I stuck mine in the feed to the radiator as its large diameter. Bare in mind though, this way you get no reading until the thermostat opens.

Common places are:
The coolant pipe between the throttle body and the rear of the engine
Tapped into the thermostat housing

There is info on how to do both of the above in the FAQ section.

Heres a pic of mine..

 

I chose to locate mine in the TB coolant line as mentioned in this thread. But there's a good discussion re: other options too. --> https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...highlight=temp
Special attention to post #36 and #49.

I don't have any pictures of it installed prior to my rebuild. But afterward, with the AWS removed, I simply looped new coolant line and installed the sensor under the UIM.

 

I prefer to install the sending units in the WP housing, on the engine side of the thermostat. This allows the gauge to function properly during warm-up and it provides a reading from nearly the same spot as where the ECU gets the water temps from.

 

^+1

I have mine in the upper rad hose and am not happy with it. I get no reading until the thermostat opens. Soon as my new hoses come in i'm moving mine.

 

The easiest and most accurate method is the TB coolant hose. Couple bucks of parts, easy to install, hidden, clean, and accurate. It's actually more work to install in the radiator hose or thermostat housing!

Installing in the water pump housing can be slick if you have the engine apart. But, as far as quality of readings, they're going to be the same. My Greddy water temp gauge and the water temp on my PowerFC always agree within 1 deg C or so. They react the same, etc.

Read my writeup on it (linked above) for more info. For years people were drilling/tapping the thermostat housing, that's just a bobo way to do it AND it's more work as well!

Dale

 

Well i had the coupler to mount mine in the radiator hose, took all of 3 seconds to cut the house and put 2 hose clamps on.

Good to know about the TB coolant hose, i'll definitely look into that.

 

Doesn't take much time to put it in the rad hose, but you have to get down to it and you also dump a LOT of coolant out in the process. The TB hose requires nothing to be removed and you only lose a very small amount of coolant.

Dale

 

THANKS FOR ALL THE HELP GUYS, I THINK I WILL TAKE THE THERMOSTHAT HOUSING ROUTE SINCE I HAVE TO FLUSH THE COOLANT TO REPLACE IT AND I HAVE A SPARE TH i can gain some time there.

thanks again and ill let you guys know the finished product once in done.

 

Did you not read what I posted?

DO NOT INSTALL IT IN THE THERMOSTAT HOUSING!

It's hard to do and you won't get any reading until the car warms up. If your thermostat is stuck closed, your car could be overheating with the aftermarket gauge at 0!

Follow the link above for the throttle body coolant hose install. Super easy, quick, just a few bucks in parts, and you get a full, reliable reading.

Do it right!

Dale

 

^Agreed. Actually my DEFI gauge seems to react a hair quicker from the sensor in the TB coolant line than the PFC does from the (stock) sensor in the housing.

It really is a piece of cake. Because so few mods are as simple, inexpensive and effective, I think some owners convince themselves it can't be the best way.

 

Does nobody else use the location for the stock temp gauge sender in the rear iron? That's what I did. The Greddy sender fits perfectly. The stock gauge doesn't work anymore, but I don't care.

 

I will likely go this route as well. Makes sense as I will be ditching the AWS, and the stock gauge is quite useless anyways.

 

Why not just use the drain plug on the block itself as a means to get a "true engine" temp reading? I know you'll lose all your coolant, but is that really a bad thing? I mean it's a good reason to flush your system anyway. Also the sending unit is just as much a plug as the bolt going into the block. Also your not cutting/drilling anything to fit the sensor in. Just a brass adaptor with teflon tape and extra coolant you should be good to go!
As soon as the weather gets a little bit warmer that's the route I'm taking. Any thoughts about that location, has anyone done it?

 

The coolant drain plug is far more exposed to the elements than any of the other places mention and any sensor placed there is likely to be hit by rocks, water, road grime etc. and if your oil pan springs a leak along that part of the gasket you could have a water temp sensor covered in oil. I realize that the oil level sensor is down there but it is mostly flush with the oil pan and is therefore much less exposed than a water temp sensor sticking out of an adapter.
Also the coolant drain plug location will probably not get the same amount of flow that you would expect from the throttle body location or the thermostat housing location. as a consequence I would expect that you would see slower changes in temperature from this location. It should also be considered that the coolant drain plug is located in the intermediate housing or 1/4 of the route that the coolant takes through the engine. meaning that any temperature measured there will be indicating a little low; how low? I couldn't say.

Overall it is likely a precarious location with slow temperature changes and it will probably read a little low. I wouldn't use it when there are much better locations to pick from that are more protected and in the direct flow of the coolant. If you are into a simple install the throttle body location is good or you could just get a 1/8 NPT sensor (pretty easy) and use the stock gauge water temp sensor location.

 

After a lot of reading and studing the water passages on the ngine themost accurate reading will be in the tb cooling lines or better yet in the stock location of the water temp unit. im custom fabricating a "T" that will allow to put both the stock and aftermarket sensors in the stock location.

I will post pics as soon i have the part ready and installed

 

Still not sure why people are trying to reinvent the wheel here. The TB hose is easy, gives a very accurate reading, costs only a few bucks in parts....it's a total win-win install.

You could install the sender in the stock temp sender location, but then you have a dead gauge on your dash. To me, that just looks half-***.

If you're ditching the thermowax setup from the throttle body, you can either run a line from the back of the block to the water pump housing and install the T in that line or do what Banzai Racing does and remove the nipple from the water pump housing, install the sender there, and cap the one on the block.

Installing a sender in the block drain would require an adapter, that hole is a standard metric hole not a pipe thread hole. Again, you're just making more work for yourself and introducing a new failure point - you'd have to drain the coolant, tap that hole, and hope that it's tapped and installed right because if not you just screwed up the center iron in your motor. No thanks. You'd also be running a tap into hard cast iron in a cramped location, not my idea of fun.

Also, the TB hose location is in the high point in the system. You can usually tell by the gauge's actions if you have air in the system, as this is where it will collect.

Dale

 

TB line is the way to go. correct temps at all times.

 

 

Here's where mine is located. it reads all the time. (I bypass the TB in my coolant layout)

 

Measuring temperature is not the same as measuring pressure. A "T" will not allow the probes to be in contact with the hot, flowing, coolant, and all readings will be in error (low)!

 

I need the best possible location as well....the previous owner of the engine i received blocked off the TB coolant holes on the irons, so the TB line is not an option for me.

 

There is no "best" location. Just pick one and install it. Don't make it harder than it needs to be.

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/water-temperature-sensor-how-tap-install-247147/