| Author | Message | ||
| Lashdeep Singh (Lashss)
New member Username: Lashss Post Number: 16 Registered: 7-2003 |
Scott, thanks for the input. The VDO sender and the Ford do indeed have different resistance values. The Ford sender was returning temps about 30 degrees F too high. My idle was at about 225-230 and highways speeds showed 230-240F. Now, with the correct sender, it shows a cool 195 at idle and never above 210 or so while cruising. I, also ran into the ground problem. The gauge pegged at 250+ when I first installed it. I soldered on a ground wire to the t-fitting that I was using and sent it to the chassis...all is well now. The electric fans and test pipe are next!  LS | ||
| Scott Anderson (Srandrsn)
Junior Member Username: Srandrsn Post Number: 180 Registered: 4-2001 |
I put VDO gauges in my 80 308. I did, h2o temp, oil pressure, fuel, volt meter, and oil temp. I don't remeber this specifically but basically for the h2o temp here's what I did. I used the VDO sender. My overflow tank has two threaded holes. The one in the rear had no wires connected to it so I screwed the VDO sender into that one. When I first hooked it up the guage pegged to the right (the hot side). Couldn't figure out why. Then I had the idea the sender wasn't grounded (had this with my old corvettes). So I took out the rubber washers/spacers/gromets (whatever you call them) where the overflow tank bolts to the frame. Esentially connecting the tank to the body/frame... and the gauge worked perfectly. I read about 185-190 degrees. And even though I'm reading it from the overflow tank I know it's pretty close because I also installed an adjustable electric fan and the switch has different setting and I have it set to come on at 190... and it does, so the temp gauge and the electric fans are agreeing on the water temp. If you connected the new gauge to the stock sender and or sending point (next to the h2o pump on a 308) it might not be getting the ground it needs with the alloy block and everything. Also the VDO gauges and the other (ford) sender might not be compatible, something to do with the resistance of the sender and the "ohms." If you have the VDO sender use it. Mine came with a bunch of bushings to fit different size holes or bring it to a machine shop to get it tapped. | ||
| Lashdeep Singh (Lashss)
New member Username: Lashss Post Number: 15 Registered: 7-2003 |
Okay, so this one may not be truly Ferrari related. But, I figured that someone must've run across this. Has anyone installed a VDO electrical gauge (in this case-water) with a stock sender unit (in this case Ford) and rec'd crazy numbers? I'm not using the VDO sender based on a recommendation by the auto supply store, but may have to go with it eventually since I'm getting amazingly hot temp readings. Thanks, Lashdeep |