93-97 Coolant Temperature Gauge Modification

[loquito]

Well I hope the mail man gets it all figured out. As for the instructions for taking apart the dash, I've done that lots of times.

If you are going to test out a 93 guage along with Semlin then I will sit back and have a and watch for the results. Good luck and I will be following your threads with great interest
Steven

[Uncle Ben]

Not in FAQ yet? TTT

[nakman]

Well done, Raven! This one's on the list for sure..

[RavenTai]

so comming up on 3 weeks now, no body has tried this yet?

Some interesting results. even in GA fall weather the temp in my 80 does have some spikes, biggest was with the AC on sitting in a fast food drive through on a hot day (low 90's) . about 205F, in traffic with lights temps often come off of the middle and raise up to about 200. heavy accleration on to on ramps makes for a small spike.

also does anyboady who has hosting be willing to host a large animated .gif of the gauge sweep? could be about 10MB

[Darwood]

I'll be trying this mod this weekend. I got the parts in last Tuesday but I had to go to Surf N Turf so I wasn't able to try this out this past weekend. I'm really excited about being able to modify the guage so it works. When I went to Colorado and back about a month ago I constantly had the AC on so that I could tell if the truck was over heating. I'll be glad when I don't have to do this.

Oh yeah forgot to mention I could host the image.

[tiorio]

Parts ordered...

[landtank]

I've been driving around with mine modified for quite a while. Nice and stable. I've only seen small variations so far.

This is probably the "BEST BANG FOR BUCK" mod to date. I can't imagine why anyone would put this off.

[jcolegrove]

have parts in hand- just trying to find an extra 3 hours...
is that a good guess as to time for a moderate to good mechanic and solderer?

[landtank]

I could do the whole job in an hour, but I've had it out before. 3 hours is plenty enough time even if you have 2 left hands.

[Beowulf]

Originally Posted by RavenTai

also does anyboady who has hosting be willing to host a large animated .gif of the gauge sweep? could be about 10MB

PM me for my e-mail address and send it in a ZIP.

-B-

[semlin]

I've got the 93 gauge back now from the combined efforts of Canada and US postal services and need to get it sent back to Raven. I would say if you are not patient you could just try the 95-97 mod. The gauge looks almost identical and we know the stock resister is the same rating as 95-97 and the diode looks the same.

that said, I would like to be sure so I am very appreciative that RT is willing to test it for me

[Cruiser Jimmy]

Can't the two resistors be bought at RadioShack?

[landtank]

Originally Posted by jklubens

Can't the two resistors be bought at RadioShack?

nope, not in the proper wattage. You could look locally at any good electronic shop, but ordering them on the web is too easy to pass up.

[RavenTai]

Darwood good deal, it is comforting to have solid anwser of what your temperatures are. on a trip to florida in september I swapped in one of the early beta gauge mods just to have soemthing for that trip. that mod wass 100% functional just to sensetive, it had big movements for small changes in temperature.

let everybody know how it goes, I think some may not want to be the first to try it.

Originally Posted by jklubens

Can't the two resistors be bought at RadioShack?

Sorry no they are not available at RS Unless your radio shack is better stocked than mine they don’t have any 3watt resistors, much less in 110 and 50 ohms, 110 ohms is an unusual value, Especially in 1% accuracy. Most common resistors are 5% or 10% accuracy

3 watt resistors are not common, usually you have small 1/4 and 1/2 watt resistors for electronics that will not handle this load, they will overheat rendering the gauge inoperable, possibly damage your cruiser. The other common resistors are 5 and up watt "power resistors" witch have a heat sink to help dissipate heat that make them more difficult to install in the space available.

The linked resistors are inexpensive even with shipping, and are the best match for this application I have found, using the linked resistors is your safest bet. Other resistors may have different results.

Also in general radio shack components are generic cheap stuff sold at inflated prices. The resistors linked above have a good bit of info and testing and ratings behind them. The torture tests at the bottom are interesting.


http://www.vishay.com/docs/30204/rsns.pdf

[RavenTai]

Originally Posted by jcolegrove

have parts in hand- just trying to find an extra 3 hours...
is that a good guess as to time for a moderate to good mechanic and solderer?

The 3 hour estimate is well padded. but take your time not a race. tinkering in the garrage having a few sep #6's is good for you.

-B- and Darwood thanks. I will be contacting you guys, I already have a "before" .gif. I have the after mod stills but they are awaiting conversion into the "after" animated gif.

Hey Semlin let me know when you want to ship it, I'll be ready. I suspect that the mod will be the same but there is only one way to confirm.

[tiorio]

Quick tip from mouser if you order only these parts from them:

The USPS Priority Mail is not only CHEAPER than UPS Ground for this size order, it's 2-3 day delivery. I mention it only becuase UPS Ground is the default option for shipping...

[Cruiser Jimmy]

RT,
Thanks for the info.
I'd be willing to champion for the 3FE crowd after the tranny rebuild.

In the original post I understand how you did everything except for the 'sender' part. What is this needed for? Did you measure resistence on the sender in order to guage the appropriate resistor to buy?

[Gauge]

Originally Posted by RavenTai

so comming up on 3 weeks now, no body has tried this yet?

I'm waiting on the parts to be delivered. When I called, they told me that all of a sudden they ran out of exactly the 2 resistors I was looking for. Hmmmmm.....I wonder why..........

I got an Email confirmation yesterday that the resistors were re stocked and shipped out. Hopefully I will get them before the weekend.

[Rookie2]

Originally Posted by RavenTai

so comming up on 3 weeks now, no body has tried this yet?

I was going to hold out for the dummy light version, but I went ahead and ordered up two pair yesterday. I can't wait to see it move up and down

[RavenTai]

Originally Posted by jklubens

RT,
Thanks for the info.
I'd be willing to champion for the 3FE crowd after the tranny rebuild.

In the original post I understand how you did everything except for the 'sender' part. What is this needed for? Did you measure resistance on the sender in order to gauge the appropriate resistor to buy?

Pretty much, The resistance curve of the sender is used in the majority of calculation of the circuit . a lot of this mod was done on paper first following formulas, then tweaked with testing on the real thing.

If you have a spare gauge and sender you can send it my way and I will figure it up or if you are willing I can give you the run down on how to go about it you will need to gather a few things and have some spare time.

Originally Posted by Gauge

I'm waiting on the parts to be delivered. When I called, they told me that all of a sudden they ran out of exactly the 2 resistors I was looking for. Hmmmmm.....I wonder why..........

I got an Email confirmation yesterday that the resistors were re stocked and shipped out. Hopefully I will get them before the weekend.

Oops made a run on resistors, so there are quite a few parts out there waiting to go in

Originally Posted by Rookie2

I was going to hold out for the dummy light version, but I went ahead and ordered up two pair yesterday. I can't wait to see it move up and down

That is still planned on but no idea when I will be able to get to it, still have work to do on reporting the 95-97, haven’t really started on the 93/94 or 91/93 yet and time is very short. Working 2 jobs right now. best to do this one for now. and add on to it later.

I may get a lot of free time here shortly though

[loquito]

Originally Posted by semlin

I've got the 93 gauge back now from the combined efforts of Canada and US postal services and need to get it sent back to Raven. I would say if you are not patient you could just try the 95-97 mod. The gauge looks almost identical and we know the stock resister is the same rating as 95-97 and the diode looks the same.

that said, I would like to be sure so I am very appreciative that RT is willing to test it for me

[Cruiser Jimmy]

Originally Posted by RavenTai

Pretty much, The resistance curve of the sender is used in the majority of calculation of the circuit . a lot of this mod was done on paper first following formulas, then tweaked with testing on the real thing.

If you have a spare gauge and sender you can send it my way and I will figure it up or if you are willing I can give you the run down on how to go about it you will need to gather a few things and have some spare time.

RT, Thanks for the offer. I'll opt for the low down on the directions. I have not spare parts to send to you.

Thanks again.

[RavenTai]

Can your vehicle be down for a wile? You will need both parts out of the vehicle for the duration of figuring it out, if you bought the sender from Dan then you could probably drive you cruiser without the gauge, the 92/92 sender is different from the 93-97 sender.

First thing you will want to do is get a reasonably accurate thermometer, digital would be best, you need a heated oil bath, and a way to support the sender in this bath, I used cooking pot, a cheap hot plate and milled an aluminum chunk for the sender to sit in. you will also need a digital multimeter, Fluke or similar good grade. you will also need a good adjustable DC power supply, I tried for a wile to use a battery and battery charger but was a pain, voltage was a moving target, fianlly made a propper poser supply from radio shack parts for about $40.

When you are ready hit me up in the other thread.

[boydmick]

I have driven about three days on my "new" gauge. WOW it actually moves! !

So far, just to/from work - no long trips or high load driving; but I am impressed.

What a novel concept - a temp gauge that gives a realistic indication of temperature

Thank you RavenTai, a highly effective, low buck mod!

[RavenTai]

Originally Posted by boydmick

I have driven about three days on my "new" gauge. WOW it actually moves! !

So far, just to/from work - no long trips or high load driving; but I am impressed.

What a novel concept - a temp gauge that gives a realistic indication of temperature

Thank you RavenTai, a highly effective, low buck mod!

cool

Did you run into anyhting that needs to be added to the instructions? tips / tricks?

[boydmick]

The only thing I can add is when reinstalling the gauge cluster, be sure to use the shorter screws for the top two locations.

I didn't keep track of which screw came from which spot and started to put a longer screw in the top. It bottomed out on the dash pad and pushed it upward just a bit. As soon as I noticed, I replaced the screw with a shorter one. No contact then.

Other than that the directions were very complete and the pictures appropriate.

Thanks again,

Boyd

[RavenTai]

Thanks Boyd added to the instructions

[Rookie2]

Well, I joined the club today. Your directions were excellent RT.

I could get the desoldering braid thing to work very well. It just wasn't heating up enough through the braid and absorbing the old solder. I didn't have a drill bit the size of the Zener Diode leads so I used a bobby pin to stick in the holes and widen them up a touch. Everything seemed to go very well, an it looks like my gauge is operational.

Thank again for all you've done on this mod!

Here's a couple of pics