Engine Temp Light

[gatorman21218]

Mechanical gauge puts hot coolant thru your firewall and into the cab with you. Great if they never leak or break. If they do (and they can) burst/leak, you now have very hot and toxic fluid spewing into you cab. I've seen it enough times to only run electrical gauges for coolant temp, fuel pressure, and oil pressure. Sure you can buy an "isolator" for them, but that adds significant cost and another point for failure.


Heath

Heath your wrong about this. A mechanical pressure gauge requires oil or fuel or air or whatever to be plumbed into the gauge. So yes I have copper tubing full of oil and fuel in my cab.

HOWEVER. A mechanical Temp gauge is different. It is a one piece unit that includes a probe, bushing, line and gauge. the unit is totally enclosed and filled with the same stuff that is in that thermometer that is hanging on your grandma's kitchen window sill. In fact it is like a giant 12 foot long thermometer. Except there are no markings on the tube, but a gauge at the end. As the probe heats up, the liquid stuff expands, and the needle moves. No coolant is used in the gauge. So if the engine was running and you cut the tubing, no coolant would spill.


The only way coolant could ever get in your cab is if the probe got a hole in it AND the tubing broke. Highly unlikely. Its completely safe to use. Also very accurate. Just dont kink the tubing when you install it.

http://www.autometer.com/tech_faq_answer.aspx?sid=1&qid=4

read this it explains it better than me.


As far as installing a mech temp gauge, the hardest part is finding the hole to put it in. once you find it, all you have to do is mount the gauge and screw in the probe. there is NO wiring involved, unless you have a backlight for the gauge. All that needs is to run the hot wire to the acc panal and plug it into a fuse (forget which one) and then ground the ground. or you can just run the hot wire from the hot side of the solenoid and put a toggle switch somewhere.

 

[gatorman21218]

I've seen hard lines crack/break as well. To each his own. Some like mustard, some like ketchup.

Heath

Thats why ive put ball valves at the engine side of the tubing on all my pressure gauges. My theory is that if a line breaks, well, I have oil everywhere. She aint a Lincoln and Im not to worried about a little oil or fuel. What concerned me is while I was driving and a line broke, I would have to fix that break or the engine would bleed to death. This way I could pull over, close the valve and continue on.

 

[MidnightBlade]

Thats why ive put ball valves at the engine side of the tubing on all my pressure gauges. My theory is that if a line breaks, well, I have oil everywhere. She aint a Lincoln and Im not to worried about a little oil or fuel. What concerned me is while I was driving and a line broke, I would have to fix that break or the engine would bleed to death. This way I could pull over, close the valve and continue on.

You could pull over, covered in scalding hot oil or water, or whatever it is your measuring the pressure of, and shut off the valve , I don't think the valve will be the least of your worries then. That's a great plan if the truck's only been running 5 min or so.

Not trying to get anyone PO'ed at me, just giving you some food for thought.
I'm all for mechanical gauges if done right

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Mine is mechanical but it does not bring coolant into the cab.

 

[gatorman21218]

You could pull over, covered in scalding hot oil or water, or whatever it is your measuring the pressure of, and shut off the valve , I don't think the valve will be the least of your worries then. That's a great plan if the truck's only been running 5 min or so.

Not trying to get anyone PO'ed at me, just giving you some food for thought.
I'm all for mechanical gauges if done right

Listen I fully understand the risks of running oil and fuel into the cab. (there is no coolant plumbed into the cab). And I believe if that makes you uncomfortable to do it to your own truck then thats fine by me.

I just didnt wanted the OP to get a electric gauge because he thought that a mechanic gauge had hot coolant running into the cab

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Were can i run my temp probe/line through the firewall?

 

[subway]

Were can i run my temp probe/line through the firewall?

thats the downside to that big probe. i used a 1 inch hole saw and cut a hole through the firewall near the steering column. 1 inch body plugs are fairly easy to get for filling the hole after you feed the probe through. i had some lying around but have seen them in the help section under the doorman brand in chain auto stores.

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

Thanks. i guess it is another trip to carquest. glad it is only 5 miles away.

 

[turbo elk]

You should NEVER run fuel into your cab. Use an isolator, any spark or open ignition source ( like you or your passenger smoking a cigarette) and you are swimming in a sea of flames, both from the fuel and vapors.
I had a nylon braided rubber hose got cut on the fire wall when the grommet failed and filled my shoe with hot oil one night. Was hot but didn’t burn. So I switched to braided stainless steel.

 

[damac]

I put a manual oil gage on my truck when I first got it just to see what was up and it seems my numbers gel ok for an older truck from what I read around here. And it goes up with the revs. I got my first truck when I registered here.

A few weeks ago the connection at the oil gage sitting on top of the dash in the middle started a drip which went down into the radio acting like a bucket and it spilled over onto all the ac controls, then onto dash parts and I only noticed because so much oil leaked that it finally dripped onto the carpet

Luckily its a beater but my radio is a gonner with those controls so I had to get another unit from the junkyard and do some cleanup.

I am not putting another gage like that in there, it was one of those harbor freight kits with the copper line. I was amazed at how much oil in a trip it let out, like a quart!

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

I put a manual oil gage on my truck when I first got it just to see what was up and it seems my numbers gel ok for an older truck from what I read around here. And it goes up with the revs. I got my first truck when I registered here.

A few weeks ago the connection at the oil gage sitting on top of the dash in the middle started a drip which went down into the radio acting like a bucket and it spilled over onto all the ac controls, then onto dash parts and I only noticed because so much oil leaked that it finally dripped onto the carpet

Luckily its a beater but my radio is a gonner with those controls so I had to get another unit from the junkyard and do some cleanup.

I am not putting another gage like that in there, it was one of those harbor freight kits with the copper line. I was amazed at how much oil in a trip it let out, like a quart!

Damn that sucks. i think after going threw that i would go with an electric sender.

 

[turbo elk]

Get high quality electric gauges and you should not have a problem and they are accurate.

 

[Sw1tchfoot]

On my gas burner I replaced the thermostat twice, and then the fan clutch without luck. I then got the same Sunpro gauge that you got and found out that it was never getting hot in the first place...

 

['94IDITurbo7.3]

On my gas burner I replaced the thermostat twice, and then the fan clutch without luck. I then got the same Sunpro gauge that you got and found out that it was never getting hot in the first place...