Author Topic: Gauges hookup (Read 4335 times)

RockT · « **on:** July 08, 2006, 03:08:56 PM »

I have a 81 TA with a 73 400 engine. when I got it someone had hooked up mechanical Temp and Oil pres sending units and guages to it. I am trying to get it back to the original electical gauges in the dashboard. Does anyone know or have a 73 manual that could tell me where the two sending units are supposed to be on the engine? I know where the mechanical ones are, but there are othere spots that could have been the electrical sending units.

thanx

Tim

eroc022 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 08, 2006, 04:04:09 PM »

the oil is right on the filter extrusion and the water is on the side of the head on driver side i think....most likely that will be the same spot that is hooked up now the only difference is the sending unit itself....

ta78w72 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 08, 2006, 07:13:51 PM »

The temp sender should be between cyclinders 1 and 3 on the head. Eroc22 is correct about the oil pressure sender.

Be sure to match the sender with the gauge though. If you have an 81 gauge cluster, you need a sender for 81, otherwise the gauge might not register correctly.

RockT · « **Reply #3 on:** July 09, 2006, 06:20:04 PM »

I appreciate the responses. I kinda figured that all I needed to do was put electrical sending units in the same spots as the mechanical. The one thing that threw me was that the was an electical sending unit sitting in the passenger side block that wasn't being used.

I finally found the cut wires for the electrical.. Now just need to order sending units. Problem though - every catelogy ends at 1980 units. What gives? How do i get one for hte 81?

ideas?

tim

Eagle 1 · « **Reply #4 on:** July 09, 2006, 07:27:18 PM »

Napa should have them.

ta78w72 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 09, 2006, 10:19:51 PM »

The passenger side is usually for a vacuum switch like a DS-TVV or a DS-TVS. But it depends on your model year and engine. You could put the temp sender in that location but it should be between cyclinders 1 and 3.

Isn't it just a joy to find cut wires? :evil: It would have been just as easy to fold them up and stuff them in the plastic wire coil.

I think you can get the connectors for the senders at your parts place too. So you could rig up another wire and run it to the gauge. If you don't want to splice that wire to your existing harness, put a washer type solderless connetor on the end and slip it over the screw at the temp sender location on the back of your cluster. Just leave enough slack to be able to pull the cluster out and unscrew that wire. Or put a bullet connector on the end of the wire from the sender. Then take another wire and use the washer type solderless connector on one end of another piece of wire, and the female equivalent of the bullet in the other....then plug the wires together. That would make it easy to pull the cluster.