I just put a new rebuilt engine in my '81 coupe & I installed a new temperature sending unit with the motor. I can not get the temperature guage to work. The new engine has fuel injection & so I've disconnected the "old" computer & use the "new" computer that came with the engine.
Does the temperature use anything in the old computer (I don't think so) & if not what am I missing??

Thanks for your help ...

:confused: :confused: :seeya

 

The temp gauge sender is installed in the drivers side between #1 & #3 exhaust. On your new engine you should install the sender and plug it up. It's a single wire connector.

The temperature sender for Fuel injected cars 9or CCC electronic controlled Q-jets) is the CTS (coolant temp sender) and it's only used for cold start enrichment and open/closed loop selection.

Marck

 

Thanks Twin_Turbo: I check that out ...

any other suggestions??

:cheers:

 

If the thing IS hooked up, pull the connector from the sender and ground it on the block. If the needle doesn't peg on full sweep then there's either a problem with the wiring or the gauge.

 

Don,
The temp gauge sender on the '81 is just the simple deal that Twin described. When I put a crate motor in my '81, I re-used the temp sender, which as Twin noted is installed in the driver's side cylinder head.

There's another sender in the passenger's side head that turns the auxiliary electric fan on and off. And there's one in the top of the intake manifold that sends a temp signal to the computer as input to electronic carb control. But those three temperature sensors are all totally separate and independent in function and connection.

NOTE: The auxiliary fan sender in the p.side head and the temp gauge sender in the d.side head are totally different units in terms of how they work, so they are not interchangeable. But because they screw into the same holes in the heads, they can, in fact, be mixed up. One of them is a one-wire hookup and the other is a 2-wire hookup, so usually you shouldn't be able to get it fouled up... but that doesn't mean the parts guy didn't give you the wrong one... :eek:

I would wonder if perhaps the sender that you installed is not compatible (wrong ohms, maybe?) with the '81 gauge. If you re-use your old '81 sender, or if you get a GM sender for the '81, and it still doesn't work right, there's something else wrong.

In that case, I would suspect a broken wire. Those wires, being over 20 years old and subject to a lot of heat, get really brittle. I broke a couple while doing my engine swap. You'll have to trace them out to see if you have that problem.

Good luck! :seeya


[Modified by Gator81, 10:53 AM 2/10/2003]