I have a Stewart Warner mechanical water temperature gauge in my right head and a temperature switch in the left head to start/stop my electric fan. Gauge read 180 at operating temperature and fan starts at ~190. Also have a bypass switch on fan for those "special" occasions.





Johnson Rod



Southern California

Avoid putting temperature sending units in the front of the thermostat or in the coolant path between the thermostat and the radiator.  This will give a delayed temperature reading and also can give a misleading or a artifically lower reading when the thermostat is not functioning correctly.

 

The ideal location for the temperature sending unit for most engines is actually right behind the thermostat before the water exits the engine going back to the radiator.  Although the temperature gauge will read a warmer temperature with the sender moved to the forward location on the Y, the indicated reading will be more representative of the real or actual engine temperature.  The temperature sending unit being placed at the rear of the head on the Y arbitrarily makes for a cooler than actual temperature reading as coolant flow through the head is not yet complete nor fully heated at that point.

Lorena, Texas (South of Waco)

Thanks for all your inputs. I will try to rearrange the temp. sender to the head and if this shows to be more complex, I will go for a in-line hose temp sender. I.e if this can be recommended by anyone?. And if so, what dimensions should I look for?

Claus

If the sender has been moved to the drain cock hole, the white wire would be the wrong one to connect to it anyway.  White is the color for the oil pressure switch wire.  As Dave alluded, the bottom of the block would be the coolest part of the engine, the sender needs to be in the hottest.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

It's hard to know why someone moved your temp sender.  Both heads can be swapped (with changes to the freeze plug on one head, and sender hole on the other head).  Without seeing your situation, maybe someone had your heads off and they reinstalled them on opposite sides.  Moving the sender might be a work-around from damaged threads or a broken-off sender, too.  I don't know.

Here is an example of a 292 automatic sender:

This engine was shipped this way and sitting on a pallet.  Follow the white wire to the temp sender.

It's not a great shot but you get the idea.  Temp sender is under your (automatic) linkage plate (it comes off with two bolts).  The sender belongs here because this is the hottest area of your engine.
Hope this helps.  - Dave

Note from Ted.  Pictures were removed due to taking too long to display and hindering new posts from being submitted.  Although the pictures were sized larger than desired, this appears to be a problem more associated with Comcast being used as the host site as the Photobucket hosted pictures do come up much quicker.

Royal Oak, Michigan (Four miles north of Detroit, and 12 miles NORTH of Windsor, Canada).  That's right, we're north of Canada.

Ford 292 Y-Block major overhaul by simplyconnected

Thanks. Why on earth would someone place the temp sender there?. I do have an automatic and as you state, there are some rods as stated and space is very limited. Does it make sense to change the location of the temp sender as it will require some rework of the rods etc?. And if the heads have been rearranged I guess it will require a new head?

Claus

Hi,

Now I have taken a photo of the 2 thingies I mentioned earlier. Which one do you think is the temp. sender?

Claus

Claus:

Yes, the temperature sender is located on the back of the HEAD on the driver's side, opposite the distributor.

John - "The Hoosier Hurricane"

Thanks for the input, but I am somewhat confused by my engine. These two inserts with wiring are located on the driverside, near the front of the engine. They are located between the motormount and the cylindric thing nearest the front of the car/engine/away from the driver - at the side of the engineblock itself. The mentioned cylinder is not the oilfilter as far as I know.

Am I looking at the wrong parts?. Is the temp. sender located at the cyl. head?

Best regards,

Claus

Shouldn't the temp sender be in the driver-side head? The one on the side of the block is the oil pressure switch isn't it?


Lawrenceville, GA