I commonly work on a friend/customer's 86 Jaguar with an LT4/700R4 swap in it. Recently his electric fan setup took a dump (fans are good, just won't come on). The people that did the swap originally really bastardized some wiring, so there's no telling what parts came from what cars, where, who, and whatever. Anyhow, I went ahead and picked up a painless deal that runs a thermostat in the drivers head (where guage sender was originally) that kicks the fans on and off at whatever pre-set temp it has (this isn't the issue I face)

My problem is this...

That painless sender/thermostat will not work for the temp guage as well as the fan relay, so now I am forced to dig up another place to read engine temp in the car. Where can I go? The guages are factory jaguar, so I'm not sure how they are compatible with what (I don't know what temp sensor was in it originally, as it was pretty old.)

any input would be great. The fans come on and shut off, but that guage is a wonderfull piece of mind for the driver.

 

On my 93 LT1, the temp sender for the fans is in the water pump. The temp sender for the guage in the car is in the drivers side head. The passenger head is exactly the same, so it will have the same access port. I would look on the front of the water pump.

 

I've got the one on the pump, but isn't that for the computer's purposes? I didn't think I saw another port on the passenger side head. If there was, that'd work great.

 

they sell a dual purpose sensor for the water pump. that way you can hook the gauge and the computer into one sensor, then use the head for you aftermarket gauge.


its a gm part, i think its under a lt1 vette

 

The heads should be identical and both should have a water port. The one on the passenger side will be between cylinders 6 & 8.

 

There definitely is a port on each head. On my car I have the factory gauge and an aftermarket one and each goes back to it's own head. They DO however read different temps.

 

I am using an Autometer electric temp gauge and I want it to show the temp as it leaves the block not as it comes from the radiator and only goes through half of a cylinder head. The computer samples the temp as it exits the block for a good reason, that is the running temp of the engine. I was aware of the dual GM sender mentioned above but wasn't sure the resistance would work with the Autometer gauge. I drilled and tapped a 3/8" NPT thread in the water pump housing on the driver's side just behind the outlet that goes to the top left side of the radiator. The wall thickness is over 1/4" at that point giving plenty of thread to seal. The sender adapter screws in with a little sealer and look almost factory.

 

sfriesen -

Are you not using the computer to control the fans?