FAQ-Installing Photoman's Coolant Level Sensor (1 Viewer)

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NLXTACY

Wits' End
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Threads
200
Messages
23,013
Location
Medford, OR
Hey there folks. First off let me start by saying this is a COMPLETE rip-off of one of PHOTOMAN's ideas:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/57345-coolant-washer-bottle-level-alarm-mod.html

This write up just happens to be for the simpletons out there (like me) who are thinking about doing this install.

I will start by saying that this project took me total of about 12 hours now but that is ONLY because I don't have parts at the ready, I didn't know where I wanted to route stuff and I really wasn't trusting myself to do this right so I really over analyzed everything. If I had to do this all over again and I had ALL the materials ready, I could probably do the entire project in about 3 hours.

Tools needed:
• wire cutters
• 1.25" drill bit (PHOTOMAN's happened to be 1.5", the sensors I got were both 1.25")
• drill
• solder/flux/soldering iron
• wire loom
• electrical tape
• razor blade
• ATC blade adaptor (this allows you to piggy back on another fuse) *this is now in a fuse panel
• zip ties
• fine hacksaw blade, no handle needed
• lighter
• red and black 16 gauge automotive wire
• 10 and 12MM sockets and wrench
• and of course.... :beer: a frosty beverage...or 12

I got two sensors from the junk yard. One was bad and the other fine. I didn't feel like spending another half day looking for more so I just went next door to the Pontiac dealer and got a new sensor and pigtail. IF you decide to go the new route, here are the part numbers:
• GM 12363368 (Indicator Switch) $61.52
• GM 12126499 (Connector) $41.26

Step one: Before doing anything you really need to decide where you want to mount everything. For me there were (4) key parts:
• The windshield washer bottle sensor
• The coolant overflow tank sensor
• The ELK 960 signal delay
• The warning LED

Now the reason I decided to do the windshield tank as well because they were both at the same location and both could be handled at the same time. So why not?

Now if you read PHOTOMAN's original write up there was some discussion about the need of using the ELK960 delay. I opted for using it because I really wanted to eliminate the false positives. See, I would know that the washboard road was causing the light to go off. But my frantic wife calling me in the same situation thinking the truck is about to explode because of the LED is another story. So I am using it. I wont go into the set-up of it because PHOTOMAN already did that. (link up top)

The ELK960 only needs 4 wires. 2 power, 1 ground and 1 to active the switch. The two power wires I just tapped into the Cig Lighter fuse right in the fuse panel. The ELK960 comes with double sided sticky tape, so I slapped that onto the back of one of the computers found in the footwell of the driver's side on the left hand side. It was a bare spot. Pretty much begging to have something stuck to it. The ground was just a body bolt that I found nearby. The trigger wire goes to the LED.

Now the LED I decided to install INSIDE the cluster. You don't have to. The reasons I did this was to make the install cleaner looking, to have the light right next to the temp. gauge AND because I had to get back in there anyway because the little graphics that light up got tweaked the last time I had the cluster open. I just went with a flashing LED which only requires a .25" hole to be drilled. Then the LED is press fit in so it can pretty much anywhere.

At the same time you can decide where you want the windshield washer sensor LED to be installed. This one I mounted outside the cluster.
2_elk_install.jpg
4_fuse_panel.jpg
5_install_LED.jpg
 
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After getting this all set up in the cabin then I only needed to start running the two black wires out to the coolant and washer tanks. **NOTE: there will only be one wire you will need to route if you are only doing the coolant sensor***

I opted for using the clutch master cylinder pass-thru. Now all of us automatic 80 owners have this pass thru because if you have an automatic, you DON'T have a clutch master. Toyota puts in a pass-thru plug which is just a rubber plug. I made an "X" with a razor blade and pushed the wires through. It was at this time that I then pushed a wire loom through but on the engine side going into the cab.

I then routed the two wires and loom under the lip of the driver's side fender, zip-tying them to the A/C line, and then "temporarily" routed the loom in the channel between the crossmember and the radiator. I say temporarily ONLY because as soon as I get the dual batteries going, its all going under the crossmember. But for now its fine.

From here I made sure I had enough slack to cover to where the coolant tank is plus an extra 12" then I clipped the wire. Then I routed the remaining wire thru the aux. battery box, under the air cleaner and to the windshield washer tank. Added another 12" then snipped.
3_firewall_passthru.jpg
6_wire_loom.jpg
 
The sensors themselves are really easy to find at a junk yard. Just make sure you get a bunch because some may not work and they all seem to be different heights.
7_sensors.jpg
 
The first step with the sensors is deciding when you want the alarm to be triggered. What I learned is that the alarm starts to activate when there is less than 1" of liquid covering the bottom of the bulb on the sensor. For both the coolant bottle and the windshield bottle I needed a smaller height.

To reduce the height of the sensor all you need to do is get a lighter and warm up the crimp that holds the bulb on. Once its hot and pliable, just pull the two pieces apart. Easy peasy.

Now that they are apart you can use a hack saw blade to cut off a couple rungs from both the bulb and the sensor. There MUST be at least one rung left to work right. After cutting I dabbed on some gorilla snot to both pieces to make sure they didnt come apart and stuck them together. There, I just gained another .5" of height. So now instead of turning on when there is only 6oz of coolant left. It turns on when there is about 10oz.
8_sensore_apart.jpg
9_sensor_cut.jpg
 
The next step now is to drill out both tanks. On the coolant this is easy. It takes two seconds to pull it off and drain. To remove the windshield washer tank is a little more work especially if you have Slee's relocating kit on, which I did. So after removing both tanks and draining into clean containers I need to mark them to drill. I needed something the right size. Well as it turns out you can use the windshield washer screen that is inside the tank. Its basically a perfect fit for the top of the sensor and works great to approximate how much room you will need to install the sensors once the holes are drilled. The washer tank was easy and I just used a pen to mark it. The coolant tank you have to be careful not to go to close to the edge and also not to close to the cap because you still want it to close. Once you have marked it, find the center of the hole and start drilling. Once you have the holes drilled out you then need to take the razor blade and chamfer out the top and bottom edged of the hole to make sure you remove any burrs so that the sensor seats properly. Once you are sure its smooth then clean out the tanks and be sure to remove the disk of plastic that you just drilled out.
10_sizing.jpg
12_coolant_bottle_drillbit.jpg
13_coolant_bottle_drilled.jpg
 
No you can go ahead and push in the sensors into their new homes. For each its just a matter of pushing them in. You can then rotate the head if needed.

Now you can get the pigtails you either bought or got at the junk yard. One wire goes to ground. I happen to connect both grounds to the light harness ground near the aux. battery tray. The other wire now gets connected to its appropriate wire that you brought it from the firewall. The ones that are inside the looms. Just solder together and clip in the plugs into the sensor.
11_coolant_bottle_pigtail.jpg
14_coolant_sensor_installed.jpg
19_ww_sensor_installed2.jpg
 
So now, when the coolant tank gets below 10oz, the light goes AFTER the 60 second delay. Once it does, I can pull over and add water to the tank if needed. Same with the windshield washer tank. Don't want to be stuck without windshield washer fluid :lol:

Next step, making an aux. coolant tank with a windshield washer pump connect to a fitting in the coolant overflow tank. For extra goober points I will add a switch to fill the coolant from the aux. tank to the main overflow tank. :flipoff2:
 
this would be a great addition to Cdan's methanol injection tank so he knows how much fluid he has.

Great job!
 
I would LOVE to be able to do the same. There is a S/C in my future, if for nothing else than to add another level sensor!
 
Woohoo!!!! Saved my bacon!!!

Wifey was home sick today so I was basically her bitch all day. So I am off to go run errands and while I am on the frwy my little light starts blinking. Uh oh. I start to pull off the to the nearest gas station. Temp gauge hasn't moved. I get to the off ramp, pull into the gas pump and THEN the temp starts rising!!!

Turn off the engine, get gas while I am there.

Popped the hood and sure enough the overflow tank is totally empty. I start looking around. The hose just under the heater mixture valve is slowly leaking from around the clamp.

Nothing makes me feel better then getting warning of impending doom.
 
Fine idea! Going to add this to my boat. Nothing like having the temp gauge pinned in a narrow channel with lots of current! (ask me- I know.)
 
I would LOVE to be able to do the same. There is a S/C in my future, if for nothing else than to add another level sensor!

Now that they are available again do it, lets see what you can come up with, I'm always impressed with your :grinpimp:mods

Woohoo!!!! Saved my bacon!!!

Wifey was home sick today so I was basically her bitch all day. So I am off to go run errands and while I am on the frwy my little light starts blinking. Uh oh. I start to pull off the to the nearest gas station. Temp gauge hasn't moved. I get to the off ramp, pull into the gas pump and THEN the temp starts rising!!!

Turn off the engine, get gas while I am there.

Popped the hood and sure enough the overflow tank is totally empty. I start looking around. The hose just under the heater mixture valve is slowly leaking from around the clamp.

Nothing makes me feel better then getting warning of impending doom.


Wow, I never saw this mod, it should be in the faq if it already isn't. I would love to do this, it's probably worth getting the new sensors like you did since the used ones are prone to failure.

Thanks for the write-up!:wrench::wrench:

It's great to hear this saved you bacon. I had a close call like this a while ago, it was due to a loose clamp, but I noticed it dripping before the temp increased.
 
hehe my stuff isn't FAQ worthy. Besides its PHOTOMAN's idea, I just did the write-up and put my own spin on it.

And yeah ANY leaks in the system and this this mod will notify you!!
 
not to be smartass but it would seem that when you lose coolant the effect on the engine is less coolant running through the engine THUS more heat, which equals your heat temp guage going up?

However now that I think of it, I can see the benefit of a flashing led alerting you to the problem if it arises. Does the stock 80 have a light that comes on? I wonder if it would be possible to simply tap into that heat sensor and install a flashing led that would come on and alert the driver? to me that would be a simpler / easier solution.
 
BTW, those GM parts numbers as listed in post #1 are available new on GM Parts Direct: Your direct source for Genuine GM Parts for $38.70 (sensor) and $21.80 (plug). Just copy and past the part numbers into their search field. This cuts the cost of new parts in half. Of course salvage yard parts will be much less. But just wanted to post a cheaper source for those that insist on new parts due to Cruiser OCD.
 
not to be smartass but it would seem that when you lose coolant the effect on the engine is less coolant running through the engine THUS more heat, which equals your heat temp guage going up?

The problem is this does NOT happen soon enough and a lot of times by the time the gauge starts to react to it and you react to it the damage may be done. This way you get notification of a potential issue LONG before that point.
 
BTW, those GM parts numbers as listed in post #1 are available new on GM Parts Direct: Your direct source for Genuine GM Parts for $38.70 (sensor) and $21.80 (plug). Just copy and past the part numbers into their search field. This cuts the cost of new parts in half. Of course salvage yard parts will be much less. But just wanted to post a cheaper source for those that insist on new parts due to Cruiser OCD.

Well thats good to know. I spent a lot of time at the GM dealer by me trying to find the right length sensors so I just got them there. It felt like the right thing to do. BTW, my windshield washer LED has come on several times since I've installed it :D:D
 
Woohoo!!!! Saved my bacon!!!

Wifey was home sick today so I was basically her bitch all day. So I am off to go run errands and while I am on the frwy my little light starts blinking. Uh oh. I start to pull off the to the nearest gas station. Temp gauge hasn't moved. I get to the off ramp, pull into the gas pump and THEN the temp starts rising!!!

Turn off the engine, get gas while I am there.

Popped the hood and sure enough the overflow tank is totally empty. I start looking around. The hose just under the heater mixture valve is slowly leaking from around the clamp.

Nothing makes me feel better then getting warning of impending doom.

That's awesome. Good catch. I thought this thing was silly at first, but I was wrong. I've been wrong before, though. Glad it saved the motor.
 

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