The spade connector broke off my temp sender so i'm trying to decide what to do for a new one.

I have the L98 heads and the stock unit don't fit in the head. It has been mentioned a few times that a volvo unit will work. I don't remember the details.

I relocated the stock sender in the water neck on intake manifold. This may be a contributing factor to my recent overheating and blown head gaskets. This location can be a bad place to look especially if the thermostat is block closed. My fan belt had broken and the coolant was boiling away below the t-stat while the sender was reading normal.

So who knows about the temp senders.

 

The water neck only sees water when the t-stat is open (above t-stat setting ~ 180*F). I would move the sender to the manifold as most have a plug (or 2) in wtr crossover for this.

Now the only company selling the correct sender unit for my '74 is Lectric Limited (lectriclimited.com). Even the shop that rebuilt all my gauges didn't carry this. Don't go to PepBoys or even NAPA for a sender - this caused me a boil-over.

This sender has a larger diameter thread and doesn't fit in most new after market heads where it belongs - between #1 & #3 spark plugs.
U can drill and tap the head hole while heads are on but be sure to use a NPT tap - clean drill scrapes as best as possible too. Heck an old machinist here on the forum used a round file for this but not my recommendation. Metal shavings can/will end up in coolant sys (flow path is up to top of radiator) and my quess settle into radiator. But hey get a small vacuum nozzle and clean it good along with alcohol wipes and should be OK.
Well that sender in the intake X-over should still be fairly accuarate and won't look any worse than in the wtr neck. Actualy the sender wire will see a lot less heat up there than near the headers.
BTW the sender is called a thermistor and u can check the 212*F indication with some boiling wtr - make sure to connect a ground wire from sender brass case to eng block/gnd.

Don't know noth'n 'bout those Volvo senders and would have to calibrate 1 myself 150*F to 270*F with my cars gauge to approve them for a subsitute.

cardo0

 

thanks for the warning. I was about to go to NAPA. Does the dealership have them?

Anyone else know about the volvo sensor?. I'm thinking of installing 2 gauges now. I'm tired of overheating this damn thing.

 

When I pulled my original engine and replaced with a built-up 355, I used Dart 180 heads. Of course the temp sending unit would not fit the heads. I went down to the hardware store and got a couple of brass connects that worked like a charm. I used a brass nipple that fit the new heads and a female adaptor with one end that screws onto the nipple and the other end the correct size for the temp sending unit. Actually worked out good in that now the temp sending unit extends out just enough from under the exhaust manifold that you can readily get to it if needed. Ended up doing both heads the same way since my original '79 L82 had two temp sending units: one for the tmep guage and the other for the electric rad fan.

 

I did something similar. I installed vortec heads and the temp sending unit did not fit. I went to the local hardware store and dug thru the bins until I found two adapters that I had to mate together. In other words, one adapter fit into the head itself. Then the second adapter screwed into the first and received the temp sender. Works perfectly and have never had a leak or any issues. Total cost was about $2.50.

 

Ok,

Looks like i can forget the volvo temp sender and make the stock work. I will check the chevy dealership tomorrow and if they don't have it order from lectriclimited.com.