Thermostat & Temp. Sending Unit

[rock883]

Ok, I went out to my explorer today to take a look on how to change the sending unit and thermostat, but I couldn't get a hold of the sending unit bolt. Is there some trick to getting this out? Also, I couldn't even get ONE of the bolts off of the thermostat housing, is there some kind of trick to this also?? For the sending unit...is it the one that has that little plug on top of it, and the sending unit has the threaded end on it? I am just making sure I am going after the right thing. There is another thing to the right of it and it had an electrical connector on top of it, but in the Haynes manual, the picture looks like the one I am going after. Thanks for the help.

 

[rock883]

Went to autozone today, the guy told me to drive around for a while and if the upper radiator hose was very hot, and the temp. guage still read at Cold then it was the sending unit. Went and got the sending unit and put it in, did it do anything, no!! What is the deal here?? What else could make the temperature guage not work at all? Do I have to disconnect my battery cable to reset the computer? If so, then which cable do I takre off, cause I did take off the negative cable, and it doen't seem to of worked, please help, thanks.

 

[Chris Jella']

I changed the sending unit on my 93 last week. I used a deep socket and short extension. I put some masking tape inside the socket to hold it when it came out. It will also hold it when you put it back in. On mine the sending unit is near the upper hose near the thermostat.
Hope it helps,
CJ

 

[Ira]

Rock,
If the gauge is like a typical idiot light setup, you may be able to check your gauge to make sure it is working. You can do this by disconnecting the wire on the temp sending unit and touching it to ground while the key is turned on. If the gauge is good, you should get some movement from the needle...probably full swing. If it doesn't move, well, I think you know.

You should not have to reset the computer just to get the gauge working. BTW, it does not matter which cable you take loose to reset it. Either one will break the circuit. Also, this should help you on your thermostat. Dead Link Removed

Another longshot, are you sure you have plenty of coolant in the radiator/engine? If you don't, it is possible that you have an air pocket in there and it is not touching the sending unit and will not allow the gauge to work. You also could have a broken wire going to the gauge from the sensor.

------------------
Ira
91 XLT 4x4

I used to be schizophrenic, but we're OK now...No we aren't...Yes we are... shut up.

 

[rock883]

Hey Chris Jella, what did the wire look like that went on top of the sending unit, was it a round one with two little electrical sensors in it and it had those clips on the sides of it? Or was it just a plug type thing that just popped onto a scres like thing? Cause the sending unit that the guy at auto zone gave me was the one that had the round electrical sensor, and not the little plug. Is this the right one?? In the haynes manual it looks like the one with the plug, but the dude at auto zone gave me a different thing.

Ira, when I look the sending unit off, the coolant was right at the edge of the hole where the sending unit went in. And about the broken wire...if the right sending unit is the one with the screw like top and not the one I got, and the picture in the haynes manual is right, then I think I might have a broken wire, cause I can only see one wire coming from that one, but the one that I canged did have 2 wires coming from it. But on the other one, there was only one coming from the unit. Thanks for the help.

 

[mharrell]

rock883 - my understanding when I replaced them is that the one wire sender that's easy to replace is the one for the gauge. The one with the clip and two wires is for the EEC

 

[Chris Jella']

rock,
Mine is a brass type with the threaded thing sticking out of the top. The plug is a single wire type with a 90 degree bend and a rubber boot. Kinda looks like a short spark plug. I threw the box away or I'd give you a part number. It was a Borg Warner I bought at O'Reillys for 2.99.

 

[rock883]

Hey Chris, thanks for the help...I have one more question. Did your temp. guage just sit at Cold all the time even though the radiator hose was still extrememly hot? If so then thats what I need to get. Thanks for the help.

 

[sluke]

rock883
I changed my sending unit twice, thinking the 1st one i changed was bad. The temp guage still hung around cold after that.
I ended up changing the thermostat, and the guage reads where it is supposed to now(normal).

Shawna L.

 

[Chris Jella']

Rock,
When I bought mine in January, the temp were in the 10-20 degree range and after startup I had good heat within a mile or 2 so I don't think the thermo was bad. My gauge would just barely come off the peg, not even into normal. After i changed the sending unit it read just a little below the middle of the range on the gauge. I may replace the thermo anyway, it's about the only thing maintenance related I haven't changed!!
Good luck!
CJ

 

[sluke]

I had good heat also before changing that thermostat. On christmas eve, my guage decided not to move off of the red line(below normal). Then my heat was weak. I changed the thermostat that day and i had HEAT that i had never had before. I guess the thermastat was slowly weakinging and that day it decided it was done. Anyway, rock, I think you may want to look into changing your thermostat. Mine had always read cold, but i had heat, so i didn't bother with the stat until it pootered out. As i mentioned before, two sending unit replacements did not solve my below normal temp guage, until i changed the stat. Hope this helps and good luck.

shawna l.

 

[rock883]

Thanks guys I am probably just going to change both, cause my heat, when it was cold around here, was a little weak and tooak a little bit to warm up, not really long though. The only problem I have with changing both of these are getting them out. How did you guys reach the bolts on the thermo. housing. Did you take some stuff out of the way to get to it? Also, how did you get the sending unit off, it was pretty hard when I tried to take that one off, I couldn't get a wrech down there. Thanks for all the help once again.

 

[TymeKeeper]

I put in a thermostat last weekend, cuz the putz that owned this truck before me didn't have on in it.. but I had to take out the air box, and the tube going to the intake, other than that, you just have to work at getting to the bolts.. A universal helped a bit, but mostly just keeping at it.. Hope that helps a bit..


------------------
Jim
'92 Eddie Bauer Explorer
Dual 2.25 exhaust, no Mufflers
Drilled AirBox
Cobra 148GTL W/K40 Mag
235/60's
My Baby!!

 

[sluke]

rock883
I know what bolt you're talking about on the stat. You'll have to use 1/4" socket with a swivel to get to it. It was very time consuming and my fathers big hands could not master it, so i had to use my little hands and the socket and swivel of course to get to that last bolt. As far as the sending unit, had to use an extention and it was also a pain in the $#% to get to. I had more trouble threading the new one on than taking the old one off. Good luck and have lots of patients. It will eventially lose to you.

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shawna l.


1991 EB 4-door Xplorer
30x9.50 Pathmakers
15x7 Eagle Alloy wheels
K&N Filter
Drilled airbox
Bosch 4+ Plats
Splitfire Wires
Steering Stabilizer
Monroe Sensa-tracs
Aftermarket Keyless Entry
Rear Air Deflector
Sony 10 Disc CD player
Reece Receivr Hitch
Green/Tan Ext. Tan Leather Int.
Sunroof
Ventvisors/bug shield
Looks and Drives like a new one!!