temp guage wiring ?

[ruddyboys]

I have a 74 with a console, The guage on the console is wired (power, ground and green/black wire) The guage on the dash has no wires connected. Should I tap into the green/black wire at the console guageand ground, power from the other dash guages? Also is the temp switch the one on the bottom of the engine attached to the about 4" round plug?

[Ron Meier]

Yes, you are correct for the location of the temp guage.

The sender is a ground and as I remember is a brown wire. The ground resistance or lack of it is what makes the guage move. Fully grounded (brown wire to ground) will make the guage read full scale.

The blue/white wire, I believe, is the lighting circuit.

A power wire (from ignition) should be hooked to the positive terminal on the guage and the brown (ground) wire hooked to the negative terminal on the guage.

[jamcleod]

i read this as you having both a temp gauge in the console and a temp gauge in the left most gauge in the dash? in the left most gauge, the upper part should be the e-brake warning light. some, few 914's have an oil temp gauge there.

the temp sender is in the plate in one corner of the bottom of the engine, i think it's the front left corner. the green/black wire should come from the sender and route to the console harness. in the same gauge, there will be an oil pressure warning light. i think there is no oil temp warning/idiot light.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Correct.

On the gauge: Brown wire for ground, red/white for power, green/black for signal from the sender.

If you hook up both of the gauges to the one sender, you will get weird (incorrect) readings on both. The car would not have come with both originally--only the 914-6 or the 2.0 cars without center consoles had the oil temp gauge in the combo gauge. There were actually a few cars that showed up with both, but I believe those to be an assembly-line screw-up.

--DD

[tat2dphreak]

did 914s come with this gauge? or was it actually a 912E gauge that also happens to work?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&category=6769&item=2419173151

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

That's from a 1974+ non-center-console 2.0 914. Just as stated in the description.

I don't remember Glen having any 912E parts, anyway.

--DD

[Ron Meier]

In case your thinking of purchasing Glenn's - I just went over and tested it - both fuel and temp are good.

[tat2dphreak]

I do really like it!
I've not seen one like it before... except in a 912E
can it be converted to cylinder head temprature? where can you get the sending unit?

[Ron Meier]

Ask Glenn after you purchase it - He knows where to get the "Taco Plate" sender

[tat2dphreak]

one more thing... how much should I be willing to pay for this? a new CHT "kit" is about 80... should I be willing to expect more for less than that amount

[jkeyzer]

You can beat that price for the VDO head temp kit. Shop around. I got mine for $69.99 locally and I have seen them for even less online.

For an oil temp gauge, I paid $27.99 for the gauge and $8.99 for the sender. You will also need the taco plate.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The regular aftermarket VDO ring-style thermocouple head temp sender will not work with that gauge. You would have to get someplace like North Hollywood Speedometer or Palo Alto Speedometer to convert the oil temp module to work with the TC sensor.

The stock oil temp sensor is an NTC thermistor. Bonus--so is the head temp sensor for the FI! So you will get some readings out of that gauge by plugging it into a stock CHT sensor. (This will mess up your FI, though, so you'll need a second sender in the other head. Or if you've got carbs....) I don't know the resistance scale that the gauge reads, so you could wind up reading up on the very top of the scale or the very bottom of the scale all the time... And a non-numbered gauge is of rather limited use, at least until you see how it "normally" behaves.

Kind of a neat low-cost goodie for carb'ed cars, though.

--DD