I Have a 1990 Iroc with a 02 LS1/T56 swap. Car runs great and I have all my stock gauges working except for the Water Temp Gauge. I purchased the 98 3 wire water temp sensor and electrical pigtail in order to get my water temp reading and I have installed them both. After the install my water temp gauge is now working but after 15 mins of the vehicle idling gauge will only get up to 160 degrees. Any idea how I can get a proper reading? I have searched the forum and youtube with no success.

 

That's about where my gage sits too when engine coolant is actually around 190°F. I don't worry about it. As far as I'm concerned the temp gage is either cold, normal, or hot. I don't focus on numbers, just relative position from normal. If you have a problem.... you'll know!

 

So I think the greater the electrical resistance in the coolant sender circuit (grand total of sensor, wires, connectors on both B+ and ground side of gage) the colder the gage will read. I think the specs for 3rd gen gage is round about,

1254 Ohm = 100°F
697 Ohm = 220°F
54 Ohm = 260°F

I'm not sure what the spec is for '98 Camaro temp sender. If the scale is different then it's going produce skewed readings on the gage.

 

Thanks for the advice,I'm glad the gauge is actually working now I will try to drive the car around like this and hopefully I can get used to its reading.

 

I have a 98 sensor as well and it reads the same way. As far as I know there isn’t a sensor that will work perfectly that can fit in the ls head. I considered tapping the head for the original sbc sensor, but like QwkTrip said you know whats hot or cold after a while. For me if I’m heading past that first notch on the gauge then the engine is getting hot.

 

Thanks for the reply LsxMatt, I might look into tapping the head and maybe getting a reading in the future. Thanks for all the great How- to videos you have uploaded with your Camaro, they have deft helped me along the way.