Those of you with aftermarket intakes - coolant temp sensor?

[ShawnQ]

My Jeep is an 88 with the 360 and an edelbrock performer intake. It appears to have a single lead connected to a temp sensor.

However, the dash gauge does not register.

What type of sensor are you all using, and how are you wiring it?

Thanks
Shawn

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[ScottsMojo]

Remove wire and hook it to a ground. With key on, observe the gauge. If the sending unit and the gauge is good the gauge will go to full hot. If the gauge does not, either the sending unit is bad or the gauge is bad, or the wiring between is bad.

Find the TSM for your year model at http://www.oljeep.com and there should be a gauge troubleshooting guide within.

[AwesomeJ10]

there are a couple of places to run temp sensors on edelbrock intakes. one on the thermostat housing and one right next to that in a port.

My rigs run two temp sensors- one for the factory gauge and one for the TBI.

As previously said, just ground the wire (with the key on) and see if the guage maxes out. If it does, then the gauge and the wiring is good. If there is no movement of the needle, then you need to troubleshoot. The temp sensor it self is pretty generic and can be found at any parts store. They rarely go bad though. Not much to go bad in 'em.

[ShawnQ]

Sounds easy enough - I'll give it a shot.

I've been looking at oljeep.com as well as the Chilton/Haynes manuals, and it seems a lot of the wiring colors don't always match up (or my wires are just so dirty they are tough to identify).

I have been using them for reference, but just figured this would be different since it is aftermarket. I'll ground it and see what happens. Where do these jeeps usually run, in regards to temp? Do they have issues coming up to temp in a normal environment (70* ambient air +/-)? I haven't run it for long (10-15min at a time), but it hasn't moved. I don't know yet which thermostat is in it (if any) so that could be another issue. I'll be installing a new one soon, and will try to figure out the sensor issue at the same time.

Thanks again.
Shawn

[ScottsMojo]

I think you should start at the beginning, drain flush coolant, replace hoses, new t-stat of known temp range and then tackle the non-functional gauge. If everything is in good order and your radiator is in decent shape I would think your operating temperature will 5-15 degrees above your thermostat rating, but there are too many variables to put a precise "number" to it. Also, these rigs aren't known for having the most accurate gauges, so you might install a mechanical temp gauge to validate what your cooling system is doing.