Aftermarket water temp gauge

supra1jz

New Member
Apr 14, 2008
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Auburn, Georgia, United States
Ok well I want to install an aftermarket temp gauge but I am having a bit of trouble it powes on and I was trying to use the stock temp sensor if I can but I can't get a reading I wired it in to the back of the gauge cluster to the yellow and green wire but it won't read what am I doing wrong can anyone help me or do I have to use the sending unit that came with the water gauge..
 

Dan_Gyoba

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Aug 9, 2007
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It MAY work with the stock sender, though the readings may not be exact. Better to use the sensor that came with the gauge.

What will not work is to leave the factory gauge connected while you 'tap in' the aftermarket.

The sensor is basically a variable resistor, where the resistance decreases as temperature increases. The gauges both send a constant voltage, and measure current over the circuit in order to position the gauge. So the gauge itself is an ammeter. The stock gauge has resistance, so it cannot react very quickly as its major fault. Anyway, when you have 2 voltage sources, it screws up the current measurement, especially if one of the gauges uses a resistor divider network to calibrate its voltage source. I believe that the stock gauge does this. This means that there are multiple paths to ground for the other gauge, which messes it up badly.

Still, the best solution is to use the sensor that the gauge is callibrated to. You can remove the sender for the factory gauge if you're not going to use it, though you'd want to use a sender that you can tap into the factory provisions. I'm pretty sure that there are only a few standards for the sender units, too, so maybe you can find a gauge which will work with the factory sender.
 

supra1jz

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Apr 14, 2008
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Auburn, Georgia, United States
Nick M;1891369 said:
Going by his username, he may have already jacked up the radiator cap once before.

Well just cause my user name is Supra1jz does not mean I will jack up my radiator cap I was just trying to use a stock wire to see if it will work but I already found a way to install the sensor that came with the gauge and it is working and i was going to comment earlier but seeing all of the point less comments from other members who in this whole forum when someone needs help that same person always has a non helpful comment so to avoid a misunderstanding I just don't comment back. Now with that said thanks to all the other members who do help thank you very much.
 

Nick M

Black Rifles Matter
Sep 9, 2005
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supra1jz;1891500 said:
Well just cause my user name is Supra1jz does not mean I will jack up my radiator cap .

That is a forum joke that doesn't actually have anything to do with the radiator getting ruined.