Thread: mechanical temp gauge 'need help installing

hey guys

i have purchased a mechanical temp gauge for my 300tdi motor however the problem is that the thread is bigger than the current sensor that is fitted. at a quick glance it doesn't look like i can drill the hole bigger as there not much room

a couple of solutions

1. the company i brought the gauge from suggested i get a new welsh plug and modify it so that the sender bit can screw in. i have not looked to see where the welsh plugs are on the motor

2. drill a hole into the plug that you top the coolant up with, oops just thought this might not be easy as it has a big screw driver slot in it

what have others done

Originally posted by one_iota
Kev

There is a screw in plug half way down the block on the passenger's side towards the front of the motor.

Probably hard to see with the alternator blocking the view from the top.

finally got around to fitting it today, only problem, the spot one_iota pointed out, while it looked the goods the probe was too big,

i had a look around and could not find another spot so i fitted inplace of the filler bung in the thermostat housing, a little extra work when i go to change the coolant next, hopefully its not restricting the water flow too much

its a bit strange when you turn the engine off as the temp gauge stays at the current temp of the coolant and slowly moves back as the engine cools, nice to a an accurate gauge now. i took it out on a test drive and it sits on 90/91 degrees at 110km/hr, the internal light even looks nice and bright, i might be able to see it at night now