Thread: Electric temp gauge sensor on the engine

Hi Justin,
There has been plenty of positive feedback on these in AULRO. I bought mine -I got 2- (1 for the Disco) nearly 2 years ago & both work fine. Suggested spot to locate the sensor would be near the water pump, away from exhaust manifold.
Cheers,
David

Originally Posted by Utemad

Hi all.

I want to fit an aftermarket temp gauge to my 3.9 V8 in the Disco1. I went 4wding on the weekend and did a lot of slow, hot low range work. I noticed the coolant temp gauge (standard) lifted a little bit but I'd like a more accurate indication of engine temp.

What makes you think that the standard guage is not good enough? Maybe your engine did not get hot despite the conditions.

In 11 years of ownership the temp guage on mine never budged from halfway even when worked hard - except once at about year 6 when in heavy sand dunes on a 40 degree day with the wind going the same way. That time the temp guage did get up to the bottom of the red - I took away from that the standard cooling system is good and in most heavy going conditions is capable of keeping the engine at the correct temp despite everything else getting hot. However if it does get hot, the temp guage will move.

Garry

It is possible that the standard gauge is adequate. Mine usually sits below half way by a few mm. When I considered it to be getting hot it was just below half way. My problem is it isn't really graduated and that small but possibly significant needle movements go unnoticed without scrutiny. So it isn't obvious in other words.

I have googled gauges to death and not found any that take engine temp from anywhere except oil and coolant. I thought a block temp gauge would have been available. Perhaps you can make an electric water temp gauge read the block temp with a different sensor?

maybe its because coolant temp is the one that everyone worries about?

the block temp is gonna vary at different points on the block anyway

Originally Posted by garrycol

What makes you think that the standard guage is not good enough? Maybe your engine did not get hot despite the conditions.

<snip>

Garry

Defender temp gauges are known to be a bit iffy, and are easily affected by earthing problems. Over the years I've seen quite a few posts, particularly on the UK boards where people have cooked engines and the OE gauge hasn't registered anything.
I fitted a VDO mechanical gauge for this reason.

maybe one of these, Heard could reports and will buy 2 one day soon
ENGINE WATCHDOG TM2, Engine Coolant Temperature Alarm, Gauge & Sensor
cheers
blaze