Unconnected engine temp warning lamp.

[Boobylinks]

My '88 7.3L has an unconnected Engine Temperature Warning Lamp connector and I'm not sure if a loose wire I found in the engine bay is part of this circuit. How do I trace the circuit back to the instrument panel for this warning lamp?

 

[Boobylinks]

Perhaps someone on this forum has the knowledge to trigger the Engine Temp Warning lamp on their '88 7.3L to flash so that I may duplicate the procedure on this mystery wire I refered to and determine if this wire is THE warning lamp signal wire.

 

[dsblack]

I believe that wire has a 90 degree elbow on it. I would ground it and see if the needle pegs, or the light goes on.

 

[Boobylinks]

I'll have Pizza Hut deliver this special person a pizza in exchange for their help resolving this.

 

[Boobylinks]

I believe that wire has a 90 degree elbow on it. I would ground it and see if the needle pegs, or the light goes on.

The wire has a round pin connector for mating to a socket. There is another wire with a 90 degree elbow that is the Coolant Temp Sending Unit wire (temp guage). I'm seeking the Engine Temp Warning Lamp wire

Hmmm, Maybe there was a 90 degree elbow (that fell off) Engine Temp Warning Lamp wire with a socket on its other end that mated to this round pin connector?

Does this description match your configuration?

P.S.-- I tried grounding the wire, but this didn't trigger the warning lamp to flash.

 

[h2odrx]

the straight one is for the gauge it is up top near the intake, the sending unit for the light is the one in your pic and it is the 90 deg one.

 

[Boobylinks]

the straight one is for the gauge it is up top near the intake, the sending unit for the light is the one in your pic and it is the 90 deg one.

I was beginning to think that was the case, but you cut straight to the chase.
The bonehead shop that installed my glow plug harness incorrectly were clueless.

My only question now is what is the procedure to test the coolant temp gauge and engine warn lamp circuits?

 

[highest_vision]

Oil pressure switch also uses similar 90* push on connector. You mention that "The wire has a round pin connector for mating to a socket" and that "The bonehead shop that installed my glow plug harness incorrectly were clueless." Is it possible this connector is the gloplug single pin round connector?
Your coolant temp gauge should be a two wire sensor, the switch is one. If you found a coolant sensor with a 90* connector on it, maybe your light switch has been put in a different place for some reason.
James

 

[icanfixall]

The straight pin connector is the gauge sender for the coolant. The 90 deg wire is for the "check engine"lite. It grounds and pegs the temp gauge and brings on the lite. No flashing lite, sorry. When you do ground the 90 degree socket it wont matter if the motor is warm, hot or cold. Also if you see that happen while driving stop and check things out under the hood. It could save you a motor. Some have found this large sender in the head go bad and trigger this system. Its kinda scarry when it happens. Also it pegs the gauge when the temp is at 242 degrees. Its an area you do not want to run at for very long.

 

[Boobylinks]

Oil pressure switch also uses similar 90* push on connector. You mention that "The wire has a round pin connector for mating to a socket" and that "The bonehead shop that installed my glow plug harness incorrectly were clueless." Is it possible this connector is the gloplug single pin round connector?
Your coolant temp gauge should be a two wire sensor, the switch is one. If you found a coolant sensor with a 90* connector on it, maybe your light switch has been put in a different place for some reason.
James

The individual glowplug wire/connectors are too short in length to be mis-plugged elsewhere but onto their respective glowplug. However you guessed right, almost. The boneheads who replaced the glow plug controller and harness did in fact put the Engine Warn Lamp "elbow" connector onto the Coolant Temp sender and left the "straight" connector dangling. I corrected that last night by connecting them (correctly, I hope) as per my attached illustration.

 

[Boobylinks]

Mystery wire.

So this leaves the unattached mystery wire with the straight connector. There doesn't appear to be any more unattached sending units on the engine remaining. The oil pressure guage needle responds so I assume its plugged in in the rear of the engine in the vicinity of the glow plug controler module. Upon closer examination, this mystery wire may be something I was trying to rig up for some forgetten reason (it was close to ten years ago). It'll be up to me to trace this one down.

Well, as long as I have the warning, temp and pressure indicators working properly, I'll be happy. I'll have to dig up some troubleshooting procedure to verify the engine sending units/guages are operating correctly. I hate to find this out 90 minutes west of Denver. :***:

As the saying goes, there are three things that go bad as you get older: One; Looks. Two; Health;

 

[highest_vision]

Glad to see you got that figured out! I meant the connector for the controller, at the back. I think it triggers the wts light, or maybe is the keyed ign source, but it sounds like the style of connector is the same as the coolant and oil switches. So maybe nevermind...
James