temp guage

[19674x4]

well, i drilled the hole and it is a smidge to small, so i got to get a bigger bit

[Joe Kriston]

Ok,as long as the topic is temp gauges,I have a question...Where does the needle usually sit on yours when you're at normal operating temperature?...On both my trucks,the needle always seems to want to plant itself on the warm side of the normal range....

The camper special I drove to Chicago in cold weather and a new 195'(I think) thermostat would warm up to just before the hot indicater and stayed there the whole trip....The needle on my Explorer with the air on in 110' heat operates at about the same spot on the temp gauge ....I'm wondering how accurate these temp gauges are....

[AmericanMuscle67]

mine sits in the low side of normal

[fordman]

joe that doesn't sound right.

[Jake11]

If just the temp guage reads too high all the time, you can put a 10 or
15 or 20 Ohm resistor in the sender wire. Will make the guage read a
little lower.

[Joe Kriston]

I forgot I asked this question here...I guess it wouldn't hurt to hook up a gauge that gives an actual temperature reading...I just wondered how accurate the in-dash gauges were....Neither of my Fords in different conditions seemed to run on the cooler side of the normal range....

[Jake11]

IMO, the needle should be a little less than middle at 180deg. You can
can adjust it using resistors. I got mine from Radio Shack.

[Joe Kriston]

Jake,if you do that will it screw up the gauge reading if your truck is actually overheating?

[Jake11]

No, it still works normally. You just changed where the needle points
to at normal operating temperature. It's best to verify the temp with a
thermomiter in the radiator coolant to make sure the guage is accurate
before you trust it. I have found most read high by default. All you really
want to do, is have it read in the middle of the scale, not start at the end
when the motor is at normal temp. Then you have a baseline of where
it reads.

[71-F-250SC-72-F-250C]

I forgot about this thread. Well thats good about the alt gauge, that means all my guages work now.