electrical and ignition Temperature Sensor wiring

[doslucero]

Hi, 

My temperature gauge in the dash cluster is not working and there are no wires going to the temperature sensor on the engine.  Can you tell me how to wire the temperature sensor and where the wire/wires connect to to make the gauge work?  I feel like the engine runs hot and I cant tell when it's overheating.  I've searched all over and haven't been able to find the answer.  When I got the car, there were no wires going to the temp sensor.  Also, I haven't been able to figure it out from the wiring diagram.  Thanks in advance.  Any tips will help.  

[TobyB]

There's only one wire- brown with a white stripe.  Often it had a black protective jacket over it, and that got quite brittle with time.

 

On your diagram, it's the only one that comes off the gauge and goes to a single pin on the speedo cluster socket. (d. if that helps)

From the socket, it makes a home run to the gauge.  Look around for it in the engine bay- it ran across the top of the

intake manifold straight back, so it could be anywhere.  If you think you found it, ground it.  IF the gauge pegs, you're in luck.

If a fuse pops, you're not...

 

If you have a later car, there's a 5- contact plug shown- it should be the brown- white stripe wire in that bundle.  I remember the plug, but not its location.

 

Otherwise, if you have no luck, start at the cluster and find it there, and then go forward.

 

Then search "water temperature gauge ground" because, while you're in there, you'll wanna ground the gauges, too.

 

hth

 

t

 

[doslucero]

Thank you Toby.  My car is a 76.  I'm going to need to take the gauge cluster out to look for the single brown and white wire.  I don't see it by just looking under the dash.  I do see a brown and white wire that is part of the main plug that going into the back of the gauge cluster.  There are no loose brown and white wires around the engine so I'm thinking that this wire may have been taken out completely before I got the car.  I'll post an update with my findings. 

[doslucero]

Update: I found the brown and white wire funning from the gauge cluster.  I couldnt follow it through the firewall because it joined a ton of other wires so I cut the wire under the dash, added a new wire and connected it to the temp sensor.  It still didn't work.  So I got a new sensor from autohausaz, went to pick up the next day at will call and now the temp gauge works.  It runs a little hot so the next step it to replace the thermostat which I have an extra one that came with the car.  Thanks Toby for your help again. 

[TobyB]

Glad you found it- and that it works! 

 

Thanks for the update, too.

 

t