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Thread: Dash temperature gauge problems

  1. #21
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    Re: Temperature Gauge Problem

    thanks for this link Tim.
    Also, the wiring on my van is very old and brittle. The female plug cap for the sending unit disintegrated when unplugging it.
    I am having a time finding a new cap to solder on. Do you have any suggestions? Someone at Napa said to just solder on a spade head. I am not sure I like that idea. but will go with it if I can't get the proper plug.

  2. #22
    Administrator timsrv's Avatar
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    Re: Temperature Gauge Problem

    It's just a 1/4" male spade post on the sender. A 1/4" female spade is all Toyota uses for the harness, it's just the insulation part that's different. I wouldn't hesitate to use a standard spade here. The insulation part on most of my vans has deteriorated, but as long as the conductor part is intact, I keep using the factory harness connector. If you really want a factory type connector here, you could probably go to a salvage yard and cut one off multiple places on many different makes/models, then solder/shrink tube. Tim

  3. #23
    Van Enthusiast brentlehr's Avatar
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    Dash Temp Gauge not working

    Hey everyone. I searched for a while but couldn't find what I'm looking for. I recently bought an 86 LE 2wd. Had a code 4 so I replaced the water temp sensor while doing a basic tune-up. Van runs great but now the temp gauge on the dash isn't working. Checked for loose connections that I might have bumped as well as all of the fuses. Everything looks okay. No codes either. Is there another water temp sensor I'm missing?

  4. #24
    Van Enthusiast brentlehr's Avatar
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    Re: Dash Temp Gauge not working - Resolved!

    Okay, resolved this issue. I took the passenger access panel back off and inspected very closely. The temp sensor in the block (1 wire) and it's connector looked good. I cut away some of the heat shrink and found part of the wire exposed from a crack in the insulation. Clipped the wire back, installed be end, re-connected the wire and we're in business.

    Guess the years under the hood can cause all kinds of electrical gremlins. Just glad this one was simple.

  5. #25
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    Re: Can't Seem to Find Temperature Sender

    Quote Originally Posted by timsrv View Post




    It's Toyota part #83420-20020

    For organization reasons I merged your new thread with your old. Tim
    Tim, appreciate the detail here as always. Do you happen to know what the plug below the sender unit is? After a similar debacle with my temperature gauge I realized that not only was it unplugged, but the unit on the block that the plug itself plugs into is missing (so I cannot plug it back in). Would this explain why my temp gauge is not functioning? Thanks in advance.

  6. #26
    Administrator timsrv's Avatar
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    Re: Dash temperature gauge problems

    Search the site using the term "water thermo switch". It's to delay the overdrive from kicking in on vans with automatic transmissions.

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