Temp Guage Question

[Guest stevox5]

Hi Guys

 

I have a 2B with a 1600 pinto installed that is fitted with smiths guages.

 

I have overhauled the cooling system with a new water pump , Radiator , hoses and a coolant temp sender unit.The engine runs fine and is not overheating measured with external thermometer .

 

My question is relating to the temp guage , it is running at nearly full temp very quickly when as I said the coolant temp is ok, I have substituted the temp sender unit with a new one and the results are the same.I have testes the resistance reading from the sender unit at the rear of the guage and this seems to fluctuate correctly.The fuel guage (seperate unit ) is also tempremental so i suspect the voltage regulator is playing up as I have 12v supply to it and 12v out to the fuel and temp guage not the 10v i was expecting , but I am unsure if this will cause a falsly hot reading? Also do any of you get problems with an origenal ford sender unit being innacurate with a smiths guage , perhaps I need a smiths sender ?

 

Thanks in advance

 

Steve

[Guest Ian & Carole]

Some people do suffer with miss matched sender / gauge.

When I had the pinto in with the smith gauge using the smith voltage stabilizer I had no issues and now with the Toyota engine and Toyota sender every thing is still fine.

Was it reading OK before the overhaul ?

Try a new stabilizer first, cheapest fix.

HTHs

[Guest stevox5]

Hi Ian

 

Thanks for replying , the guage was like it before the overhall. I have only just bought the car and am getting to grips with it bit by bit.

 

The guage has always run high , I did the work on the cooling system as i found things needed attention as I checked the car over , the cooling system is sorted now and I have also changed the starter motor and wiring , dizzy cap ,rotor ,leads and plugs , overhauled the webber.

 

It runs nice now just the temp guage bothering me , I agree with the voltage stabalizer as the first point to start I have just ordered a modern unit to replace the current one.

 

Will see how it goes

 

Cheers

 

Steve

[Guest Brian T]

My Smiths gauge reads fine with the Ford sender, got my stabiliser from a Land Rover dealer off the shelf £7.50.

[Grim]

ditto, paid about the same for one off ebay.

[Guest stevox5]

Thanks for the info guys.

 

I have checked the wiring and sender unit again and im happy this is ok,i have ordered a modern version of a voltage regulator from a website for £9 and ordered a new guage.I will fit the above and let you know how I get on.

 

Thanks again

 

Steve

[Guest stevox5]

Hi Guys

 

Update on this problem that is now sorted. I replaced the guage with a new one with a better scale but this still read high.The new voltage regulator made the set of guages more stable but the guage still read too high.I made sure the engine was at normal opperating temp and the guage was inaccurate again and it was definatly a guage issue.

 

I got hold of a smiths sender unit which made the guage close to correct but still slightly high , so i ordered a variable resistor and fitted this in series with the sender unit and adjusted the reading on the guage to where I wanted it.I have monitored the reading comparing the real engine temp with a digital thermometer and the guage reads spot on.

 

The variable resistor was £1.50 for a pack of 8 so this would be a very cheap and easy job for anyone with a simular issue.

 

Cheers

 

Steve