Replacing Temperature Sender

[cfmustang]

Dumb question.

I got my power to my gauges again and found out my temp sender is bad. I picked up a new Delco unit last night and just wanted to ask if there were any tricks to installing it.

It looks like you just unscrew the old one, wrap the threads of the new one with some teflon tape and screw it in. Is it that easy or is there a trick?

If I remove the old one, will coolant leak out if I don't partially drain the radiator? How much to I torque down the sender? Should I use anti-sieze?

thanks!

 

[The Plankster Prankster]

yeah, its simple like that. it will lose a little bit of coolant if you dont drain some first, so its better to partially drain it but you can get by if you dont.
as for torque, i believe it has about a 7/16? hex head, so the proper torque is just as hard as a standard wrench of that size allows you to do with one hand. dont push it to any extremes, but you have to consider that wrench lengths are what they are for a reason.
as for anti-seize, im afraid it might interfere with the sealant (teflon or rector-seal), thus causing a leak, so i wouldnt use it here
--josh

 

[Anonymous]

I don't think you should use anything on the sender threads, or it will not ground properly. And cause false or irratic readings. Are the sender threads a brass material? If so I would just tighten it up then check for leaks. That's the case with my 1965 small block chevy. Thanks Lowell

 

[250mav]

are these after market gauges? I ve been thinking of getting a set for my mav. i wouldnt use anti sieze or anything, I uesd copper silicone(had it sitting around) on the sender on my olds in case water ever wanted to leak out, it caused the needle to stick to the right of the guage

 

[cfmustang]

Original gauges. I burned out a power lead to the dash voltage regulator and the VR itself last Summer and finally got around to fixing them this week. When I got power back to the gauges, I found that the temp sender has gone bad since then.

The new one is brass. It looks like the old one was brass and it looks like they used teflon on that one, so I assumed that I should use it on the new one...