I have an '86 TA with a 305 TPI, recently I changed out my plug wires and now my temp gauge doesn't work. I switched out the coolant temp sensor on the front of the motor and still nothing. Is there more than one temp sensor or switch and if so, where? I have found a wire that is loose and traced it back to a black conduit bundle. Any suggestions would help, thanks.

 

Sounds like you knocked off the wire from the temp sender when changing plug wires. The temp sender for the actual gage is on the driver's side head, between the #1 and #3 cylinders.

The coolant temp sender you changed is used by the ECM and doesn't have anything to do with the gage. Hope that helps.

 

That is helpful, but I still can't seem to find the damn thing. I've searched every square inch of the driver's side block and I see nothing that would resemble the sensor. The actual wire that is loose is green and has a single female connection at the end. The other thing is that it runs to the passenger side of the engine. Is it possible that it is located on the passenger side of the engine? The gauge pegs to max when I start the car then returns to zero and doesn't go anywhere afterwards. Sorry if these sound like dumb questions, but I am totally stumped.

 

It's possible it could be on the passenger side, but mine is on the driver's side. Also the temp sender is on the head, not on the block as you describe. If it's on the passenger side head it would be between the #6 and #8 cylinders instead.

Either way, the temp sender can only be at one of those 2 places.

 

heres a pic of my car, i believe thats the guage sender in the head right next to the spark plug. i numped mine off while putting in headers and had to tape it up alittle.

 

OK, Here is a pic of the temp sender. It is looks like a large nut with a wire connector on top. It should have a green wire connected to it.

Also, don't make comments about the ugly 305. I only got this bird register 3 weeks ago and it's coming out real soon.

 

Thanks for all of your help guys. Turns out that the temp sensor that was originally on the driver's side of the head was knocked off by some idiot who decided not to take the time and replace it, but rather leave it in there and put a new one on the passenger side of the head between the 6 and 8 plug. The only thing that was throwing me for a loop was how odd it looked. It didn't seem like the connector would match up to it, but sure enough it did. I did just knock off the wire when I was changing out plug wires. Once again thanks for all of your help!

 

k, time to hijack this threat

i just bought a new wells sending unit, put it in the head, so motion of the temp gauge whatsoever....
any ideas?

 

The only thing I can think of is that the parts guy gave you a temp sender for a 'idiot light' cluster. If it is not for gauges, it won't work.I'll get the part number for you later tonight.

 

Maybe you guys would have some insight: My temp gauge is all fixed now, but it reads 30 degrees hotter than it really is. Could it be the location of the sensor towards the back of the engine? Or is this just a common firebird problem? Or is the sensor maybe just malfunctioning?