Coolant temp guage gremlin

Austintacious

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Thanks for the suggestion but The dash gauge was acting up before i put the new water pump in so I dont think thats whats causing the malfunction. as far as short vs long stem, the pump came as a kit from clay at riffraff diesel with a new tstat and outlet. I'm sure he knows what hes doing. but I will check next time i have it out. finally got the PoS to stop leaking after removing it about 5 times to get it just right so I ain't gonna pull it again unless i have to. i'm almost positive its gonna be the sending unit like you said before. just have to get back home to all my good tools before i can check it out.
 

Austintacious

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Thanks for the suggestion but The dash gauge was acting up before i put the new water pump in so I dont think thats whats causing the malfunction. as far as short vs long stem, the pump came as a kit from clay at riffraff diesel with a new tstat and outlet. I'm sure he knows what hes doing. but I will check next time i have it out. finally got the PoS to stop leaking after removing it about 5 times to get it just right so I ain't gonna pull it again unless i have to. i'm almost positive its gonna be the sending unit like you said before. just have to get back home to all my good tools before i can check it out.
 

Austintacious

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Is this immediate right after you start the truck? Once warmed up if you shut it down and restart in 10 - 15 minutes do you have the same issue?

Do you have access to a IR temp sensor/gun with a 15/1 or 30/1 spot to distance ratio? The better ratio will give you a smaller area for a measurement. 30/1 is a 1" spot at 30". If so you could shoot the temp in the location of the sensor and get an idea of the temp that the sensor is seeing.

Has the water pump been replaced with a newer style? I seem to remember that there was some issue with the old style pump with the short stem t stat and a potential over heat issue. It has been to long ago and I do not remember the exact concern with the older pump.

I would lean toward an electrical issue until you said that the Isspro did the same thing.

One other thought is do you have the correct temp sender? There are two options for our trucks. One with a red band, and one with a green band. I just went through a similar issue last year on my 95 F350. When I would first start it the temp would be fine but after 15-20 minutes it was reading 80% of full scale. My IR temp gun was only showing about 185F. My sensor had failed and I picked up a new one and it did the same thing. I thought I should have checked the dash gauge. But I did more digging and found that the replacement sensor was not the correct one.

"Ford used 2 different styles of temperature sensors on the 7.3L engines that look the same but function differently. If you touch your sensor wire to the chassis and your temp gauge reads full scale, you will need the 6-016 sensor. If it does nothing, you will probably need the 6-015 sensor.

There is also one difference in appearance that may be hard to distinguish on the sensor once is has been installed on the engine for years. There is a colored ring in the sensor around the single electrical pin. One is red and the other sensor is green. If you have a green colored ring, you need the 6-016, red is the 6-015 sensor."

Link to this info:
https://www.dieselorings.com/1994-1...s-parts/6-016-coolant-temperature-sender.html

You were spot on. the factory sender the dude from autozone sold me was the wrong one. ordered the right one from diesel orings and shes happy again. the isspro is still working as well but still not sure why. not gonna complain tho. Thanks everyone for all the help. you guys are a wealth of good info. glad this one got put to bed finally
 

JohnT24

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"Ford used 2 different styles of temperature sensors on the 7.3L engines that look the same but function differently. If you touch your sensor wire to the chassis and your temp gauge reads full scale, you will need the 6-016 sensor. If it does nothing, you will probably need the 6-015 sensor.

There is also one difference in appearance that may be hard to distinguish on the sensor once is has been installed on the engine for years. There is a colored ring in the sensor around the single electrical pin. One is red and the other sensor is green. If you have a green colored ring, you need the 6-016, red is the 6-015 sensor."

Link to this info:
https://www.dieselorings.com/1994-1...s-parts/6-016-coolant-temperature-sender.html

Thanks for the Link.... I need to replace mine.
had no idea there were 2 types...
 

Bugman

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There are also 2 temperatures sensors on the 7.3

One is for the gauge located on the top of the water pump and one for the light which is located on the right front of the engine

Sent from my SM-J737V using Tapatalk
 

JohnT24

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Is the temperature sensor on the top of the water pump compatible with any aftermarket temp gauge?

I just replaced mine and the stock dash gauge still isn't working....

I'm ready to just buy an aftermarket gauge and call it a day.
 
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You might as well just get an aftermarket gauge that comes with an appropriate sensormand use it in place of the factory sensor. It might take an adapter however. Cheers!
 

JohnT24

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You might as well just get an aftermarket gauge that comes with an appropriate sensormand use it in place of the factory sensor. It might take an adapter however. Cheers!

Yep... web shopping right now!

If I remember right, The sensor thread is 3/8-18" ??
 

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