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73-87 Chevy _ GMC Trucks => Interior & Equipment => Instrumentation => Topic started by: Watson210 on March 09, 2017, 08:43:32 am

Title: Coolant temp light + gauge
Post by: Watson210 on March 09, 2017, 08:43:32 am
I have an 86 K10 with idiot lights. I'm putting in a coolant temp gauge but also want to keep the warning light as well. I've heard someone say that the passenger side head has a tapped and plugged hole where you can place a sending unit. Can anyone confirm or have any other ideas on how I can make this work?


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Title: Re: Coolant temp light + gauge
Post by: Irish_Alley on March 09, 2017, 08:51:41 am
both heads are the same. you can swap them and still have all the available ports. that being said most use the drivers side head port and move your sensor to the intake. not sure if a manual temp sensor can fit in the intake never tried (depth)
Title: Re: Coolant temp light + gauge
Post by: 75gmck25 on March 12, 2017, 12:47:55 pm
I have a mechanical temperature gauge from Autozone and I've had the sensor in both the passenger side head and in the fitting in my Edelbrock intake manifold next to the thermostat housing.  Most folks predict that it will read a higher temp in the head than in the intake, but I found there was no noticeable difference. 

Routing to the intake manifold routing was easier since I ran the line through a hole in the firewall near the steering column. The probe on a mechanical gauge is fairly large large (1/2"?),  but an electric gauge only needs space for a wire.

Bruce
Title: Re: Coolant temp light + gauge
Post by: hatzie on March 12, 2017, 05:02:48 pm
When everything is just fine there's no temp difference between the heads and the intake...
The problem you'll eventually run into is the intake mounted sensor will get uncovered when the coolant is even a little bit low and the air/steam is not the same temp as the coolant. 
Title: Re: Coolant temp light + gauge
Post by: Watson210 on May 07, 2017, 11:19:28 pm
Gotchya. The problem I'm having now is the light is telling me that I'm overheating. Not sure yet if this is the sensor malfunctioning or if it is indeed overheating. Guess I'll find out when I put in this gauge. I do want to keep the light too since it's much more noticable when it gets hot


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