Does anyone know if it's possible to visually tell the difference between the original failure-prone mechanical 6.9 GP controller and a solid-state one?
At first I thought it was a color coding thing, but now I'm not so sure:
Same part # on both:
White International: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172218386721
Black International: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373145612465
Black Motorcraft with a modern part number, SW-5241: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...torcraft-water-temperature-switch/mot0/sw5241
White Motorcraft, with a different (old?) part number, SW-1787: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185025948756
Is it just my imagination, or does that old SW-1787 one look shorter and fatter? It would make some sense if it's fatter, since it needs room for the mechanical switch inside.
Here is a side by side. I scaled the two pics so the threads were pretty close to the same size in both images, so that should be a pretty accurate comparison. The base of it looks wider/thicker on bottom (older) one. The "nut" also sticks out more. I wonder if that's how you can tell, by looking at the hex "nut". Not to mention the color, silver vs black.
The nut definitively sticks out way more from the body on the older one:
Comparing those to the controller on my RV, it looks like I may already have a modern solid state one. The big plastic bit around top made me think it was an old one, but I guess that's just a protective guard of some kind? Despite looking silver in the following pic, it's more of a medium grey color.
A side view, cropped out of a photo I took of the valve cover:
At first I thought it was a color coding thing, but now I'm not so sure:
Same part # on both:
White International: https://www.ebay.com/itm/172218386721
Black International: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373145612465
Black Motorcraft with a modern part number, SW-5241: https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/...torcraft-water-temperature-switch/mot0/sw5241
White Motorcraft, with a different (old?) part number, SW-1787: https://www.ebay.com/itm/185025948756
Is it just my imagination, or does that old SW-1787 one look shorter and fatter? It would make some sense if it's fatter, since it needs room for the mechanical switch inside.
Here is a side by side. I scaled the two pics so the threads were pretty close to the same size in both images, so that should be a pretty accurate comparison. The base of it looks wider/thicker on bottom (older) one. The "nut" also sticks out more. I wonder if that's how you can tell, by looking at the hex "nut". Not to mention the color, silver vs black.
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The nut definitively sticks out way more from the body on the older one:
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Comparing those to the controller on my RV, it looks like I may already have a modern solid state one. The big plastic bit around top made me think it was an old one, but I guess that's just a protective guard of some kind? Despite looking silver in the following pic, it's more of a medium grey color.
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A side view, cropped out of a photo I took of the valve cover:
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