coolant temp sensor

[aknight_sa]

I was replacing the thermostat and for some reason, i cut the wire. but the thing is some liquid was spraying out of the copper wire from inside the isolation.

what kind of coolant temp sensor is this? and what is the liquid for?

 

[mechted]

Looks like a mechanical water temp guage. Or maybe a mechanical pressure guage? Something aftermarket. If you follow the "wire" (its actually a small copper tube) it should go through the firewall and to a gauge (or maybe whats left of a guage) inside. If you dont need/want it anymore, just remove the whole sender and put a (1/2 inch?) pipe plug in there.

The actual coolant temp sensor is in the pic, at about the 7 o'clock position of your red circle. Electric sender. Single wire hooks up the that stud. Normally you take the temp from the driver side head, but the intake works just as well.

 

[aknight_sa]

its an aftermarket coolant temp sending unit.. but i never heard of mechanical for water temp

i have to get a new one now as i cut the wire

 

[sweetk30]

and the t-stat housing on that outlet side is NOT the best place for the average temp of the coolant system . as this point gets open/closed flow of water from the t-stat . so the gauge will be reading up/down a lot .

the port in the intake the old electric is at or as said the cylinder head side port by the exhaust manifold is stock . these points get you live all time temp readings and NOT the up/down - open/closed temps of the t-stat output water flow.

 

[diesel4me]

Those mechanical water temp gauges have some kind of glycol in that "tube" leading to the gauge--when it expands from the heat it pushes against a mechanism inside the gauge that moves the needle..

I prefer that type of gauge over electrical,but its hard to keep that tube from rotting away in 2-3 years on my trucks that get salted every winter..