Installing Temp Gauge Question (1 Viewer)

[Romer]

It seems a popular place to install the sender for the temp gauge is shown in the pic below(landcruiserphil). he also said the following about installing the ISSPRO temp gauge

I installed a W/T sending unit the same place Dan speaks of a year ago. Depending on how anal you are you dont need to remove anything. I used 2 cordless drills for the job (1 with the proper size bit, 1 with the tap) didnt even remove the radiator cap lost maybe 2 oz of coolant. Once you have everything together less then 1 minute to install the sensor. Drill, tap, and screw the sensor in = done.

The instructions of the gauge say "Install the sending unit" I don't know what size bits and want to make sure before I drill a hole in that neck.

Any tips on drilling and tapping would be appreciated. I have done plenty of drilling, but other than a few keg's, this will be my first tap.

 

[clownmidget]

Ken, the tap will identify the drill size. It's worth buying a new good quality drill and tap for this. If you do pull the neck off (which is adviseable for a first timer) you need to remove the alternator to do it.

 

[MTJohn]

Drill and Tap

I didn't have the balls to do the drilling and tapping. Since I am in the process of doing belts and hoses anyway, I took this inlet off and brought it to a machine shop. They charged me $5 to drill and tap. I did have to remove the alternator and the bracket holding the alternator on to get at the inlet nuts.

Cost me a gasket, $5.00 and a little time, but given my lack of skills, I consider the time and money to be well spent. Now I have to actually hook the gauge up and see the temperature results I'm not sure I want to know. I need to stop at the part store on the way home tonight and buy some wire. Gauge is sitting on the counter waiting for me.

 

[stlcruiser]

Greetings:

I have a spare neck. Bought new one from CDan had it drilled and tapped at machine shop and then swapped out. No down time. Pay for shipping and its yours.

Steve
94'
160,000

 

[Romer]

Greetings:

I have a spare neck. Bought new one from CDan had it drilled and tapped at machine shop and then swapped out. No down time. Pay for shipping and its yours.

Steve
94'
160,000

Thanks,
I am going to drill it in place without removing the alt. If I screw it up, I'll take you up on that. I have another 80 to drive if I mess it up. Or I could just take it to a shop and have it done.

 

[cruiserman]

How about drilling and tapping with some grease on the bit and tap? Is that sufficient? I hate pulling the alt.

 

[Bearcat80]

It's the drilling thats the hard part...

If you can drill a hole, you can tap a hole. Right size hole, right size tap, righty tighty, lefty loosey, need I say more? Drill it, tap it, leave tap in until you have sensor ready, unscrew tap, screw in sensor. Unless you have tapped a keg in the last hour, it should be that easy.





Just a little messing with the moderator here, crap I forgot he is friends with a needle bearing shaman. Time for da head gasket, boys.:whoops:

 

[Cube Dweller]

Few tips:

I stuffed a rag up the neck, past the cast boss. It was bunched up like a ball, but I left a thin section sticking out so I could pull it out. This dragged the majority of the chips out.

Center punch or use a center drill to start the hole. Kerosene, Rapid Tap for aluminum or WD-40 for a lubricant. Step up the diameter in 3 or so increments so your final pass with the recommended drill size is taking off 1/64- 1/32. The ISS PRO gauge I installed had a couple options, think it was 1/8 and 1/4 NPT.

NPT is a tapered thread, you can tell when you look at the tap. You want to thread it so the boss is fully threaded- no untapped aluminum showing. Once you get there, stop, check the fit, and go deeper as needed. I think I left 3 threads or so on the adapter. As you tap, go fwd 1/2 - 1 full turn, then reverse the tap to break the chip and clear it.

Another trick is to take a 1" thick chunk of steel and drill a hole in it so the tap barely fits thru the hole. Place this over the hole you drill on the neck, hold it with one hand while you thread the tap in with the other. This will help keep the tap straight. Of course if you drilled the hole crooked, the tap will follow.

I put a dab of grey RTV on the threads, you could also use pipe dope. So far, no leaks after a few months.

 

[Cube Dweller]

Oh, one more nice touch is to take a countersink and break the edges of the drilled hole before you tap. This removes any sharp edges and looks pro.

 

[turbocruiser]

Ken, why not just go and get the Greddy gauge and Greddy adaptor for the upper radiator hose like we talked about already?