More stupid questions from Saxman, the guy who is trying to learn about SBCs...
Previous owner put in an aftermarket temp guage on the A-pillar. It gets power to light up, but does not read the temp. I can't get an answer from P.O. as to where he hooked up the temp sensor and there are no stray wires going to the intake manifold. The stock guage just pops to 1/4 of the way up the meter, no matter the temp.
If I am going to rewire the new temp sensor (and the old one), what is the best way to hook it to the engine. I am not very knowledgable on how temp sensors work, but it apprears that a simple wire hooked to one of the bolts on the intake will do the job - or am I way off?
I really don't feel good about driving it or even running it very long without a running guage. It's one of the last things keeping me off the road!
Mine is right by the water inlet on the intake. It could also be in the head I guess but I wouldnt know where. It may be a good idea to hook up one for the oil. It has one wire going to the sensor and picks up a ground from the intake or head. Good luck.
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08:16 PM
Saxman Member
Posts: 5151 From: Melbourne, FL Registered: May 2005
Originally posted by Jake_Dragon:Mine is right by the water inlet on the intake. It could also be in the head I guess but I wouldnt know where. It may be a good idea to hook up one for the oil. It has one wire going to the sensor and picks up a ground from the intake or head. Good luck.
I have an oil sensor just under the distributor, so the oil pressure shows on the A-pillar mounted guage, but not the temp. That would be a good back up. I need ot learn more about how the temp sensor give a signal.
can you post some fairly closeup pics of the intake, and the heads? we may be able to spot the culprits! the stock fiero sender has a 2 pin connector, cause it has a guage sensore and idiot light sensor, they use the threaded part as the ground contact as do 99% of aftermarket guages. the wiring of a typical after market is +12v to guage , then wire form guage to the pin on the sensor, an the ground is from the sensor threads. it is a temperature sensitive resistor, and either increases in resistance or decreases, depends on the mfg.
look on the heads for a sensor threaded in, also around the base of the tstat.
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08:44 PM
86V8fiero Member
Posts: 127 From: Watertown NY USA Registered: Sep 2006
All small block chevy heads have a taped hole for a tempature sensor. The drivers side ( like in a camaro) hole in between sparkplug #1 and #3. This would be the hard to get to one on a V8 fiero. The other head will have a tapped hole between #6 and #8. This is the easier location.Heads either have a sender or a pipe plug. Most intake manifolds also have taped hole(s) in the front near the thermostat housing. To find out whats wrong, first locate all the senders (sensors) in the above locations. With the ket on, engine off; unplug one of them and ground it with a jumper or piece of wire while an assistant watches the gauge(s). If either gauge pegs, you know which sender goes to which gauge and that it is getting power and most likely the sender is bad. Just because the gauge lights up does not mean it is getting gauge power. If nothing happens then it gets tricker. The wire between the gauge and sender could be open, the gauge could be bad, or it might not be receiving power. The sender could also be bad too. Dont assume you only have one bad part! I would remove the gauge from the panel without removing the wires and check for power on the + terminal. Also, I forgot about the ground(-) terminal. Check that by grounding your test light or voltmeter there and touching the positive to the plus terminal or another source of power. If that all checks out ok try running a jumper out the door and to the sender directly. Still no luck? Buy a new gauge. Hope this helps.
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08:54 PM
Saxman Member
Posts: 5151 From: Melbourne, FL Registered: May 2005
