Need help wiring water temp gauge please

[threedogs]

I have red digital gauges fitted and have been waiting to fit the water sender till
I attempted to wire it up. It has three wires out the rear red/green and black.
Ive run the green wire to the sender, the red wire comes on with ignition and
the green earths onto the dash behind the radio.
Without sender wired I have 40 degree showing if that helps.
I thought it was straight forward how wrong.
Soory about the side way pics

[jay see]

I have red digital gauges fitted and have been waiting to fit the water sender till
I attempted to wire it up. It has three wires out the rear red/green and black.
Ive run the green wire to the sender, the red wire comes on with ignition and
the green earths onto the dash behind the radio.
Without sender wired I have 40 degree showing if that helps.
I thought it was straight forward how wrong.
Soory about the side way pics

Red= positive
Black=negative
Green=sender.
The 40 degree reading is because it isn't reading anything ATM.
Having the sender after the thermostat you might have to wait for the coolant to pass by for it to register. Can any confirm. Mine sender is before the thermostat.

[the evil twin]

TD replied to your PM... pretty much what jay see said.

I am confused what you are trying to measure.
Are you looking for the coolant temp after it exits the Rad and before it enters the engine?

Don't see the point of that myself

[threedogs]

Just basic water temp gauge my sender is in the bottom hose
I have wired as everyone says and all I get now is a full celcius reading [150]
Even ran that extra earth to the battery, I have red to ignition and black to earth
I doubt its the wrong sender, which way does the water/coolant go ??

Im comparing to my Ecu-Talk only as a gauge

[Hodge]

Unsure if my sender is any different but mine had 2 wires going to it. Green and black. And it displayed any temperature the tip was sitting at, regardless of whether it was dipped into coolant or not... So if it was sitting in an ambient temps of 28C, thats what it showed.
I'm guessing yours uses the block as the return ?? So when it's plugged it, it then completes the circuit and sends the info back to the gauge?
Does this seem correct ?

[threedogs]

Yeah sort of , the great John bennet put his thermostats in the bottom hose and this guy wrote the book on cooling systems.
But regardless where the sender, I get your point Ill see what happens in the morning when all is cold
The sender is only a switch so you really cant over think it ,,grrrrr lol

[threedogs]

Im going to change the sender over tomorrow,
They look identical but may have a Ohm difference

[the evil twin]

snip...
The sender is only a switch so you really cant over think it ,,grrrrr lol



... uummmm... your sender shouldn't be a switch.

If it is a switch then that may be why it is reading 150 degrees !

[the evil twin]

snip... the great John bennet put his thermostats in the bottom hose and this guy wrote the book on cooling systems.


Yep, couldn't agree more, great place for thermostatic control which is why the ZD30 one is there.

Still don't quite understand why you would want a temp sensor there tho...

[threedogs]

When I touch that second wire to earth it shows 150 degrees C and the alarm
Pretty sure these senders are both the same but eh you never know.
Ill swap them when the motor gets cool enough to work on

[threedogs]

Ok changed the sender with no luck
where do ppl put after market senders on a ZD30??

[threedogs]

So nobody with a ZD30 is running an aftermarket water temp gauge ???

[Hodge]

John. I'll repeat my post earlier... If your sender is in on the HOSE, it may not be grounding the sender hence it won't work.. It needs to be on a metal / grounded part of the cooling system like the block or thermostat housing or something...
I "think" that's how those senders work. ET or someone else correct me if I'm wrong...

[threedogs]

I ran an extra wire off the sender to the earth on my AUX battery ..
All that happened was the gauge showed 150 degrees instead of 40,,,
even changed the sender {no change}

[Hodge]

Ok, so I was wrong. So, if two senders are doing the same thing. Could something be up with your gauge ?

[threedogs]

Yeah Im sorting it out with the seller as we speak. lol

[Yendor]

I ran an extra wire off the sender to the earth on my AUX battery ..
All that happened was the gauge showed 150 degrees instead of 40,,,
even changed the sender {no change}

This doesn't make sense. Where did you connect this extra earth wire on the sender?. On the outer housing that screws into the pipe or the threaded end that the green wire is connected to?

If it was on the threaded end then I would expect the gauge to read maximum.

If it was on the outer housing I would say the sender unit is the wrong type for a gauge and the outer housing/pipe doesn't have a permanent earth.

Not sure why you are bothering fitting a cheap dragon temperature gauge when the ECUTalk will give a more accurate reading. A low coolant alarm would be more beneficial.

[megatexture]

Ok changed the sender with no luck
where do ppl put after market senders on a ZD30??

Mines in the top hose. I thought that's where everyone puts them.

[Clunk]

Not sure why you are bothering fitting a cheap dragon temperature gauge when the ECUTalk will give a more accurate reading. A low coolant alarm would be more beneficial.


Because more gauges look more super cool when they're lit up at night? ???

[threedogs]

@ Mega I take it you used one of those alloy billet sender holder?
Did you jus cut the top hose or source shorter ones to do the job.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/HOSE-ADAPTOR-36mm-CAR-WATER-TEMPERATURE-GAUGE-SENSOR-ADAPTOR-/110682639310?hash=item19c5330bce:g:k2wAAOSwGzlTv4-x

[threedogs]

I struggle to see the Ecu-talk TBh Ill still be able to hear the alarm
And yes I ran the second wire from the bolt to my Aux battery earth.
Of course it would show max .Doh.....
The thermostat housing is held in place by 2 x 8mm bolts and a smear of RTV
For some reason this morning driving around it went to 47C. I have a sender housing
I can put in the top hose, would prefer to leave it where it is , looks much neater

[jay see]

Did you have a win with this?

Sent from my XT1033