Nutti

Hi guys!

So I installed a oiltemp gauge in my -89 rs today and found that the threads in the testport plug on drivers side was the same as my sensor threads. The problem was that the sensor tip was about doubble the lenght of the plug tip, I tested with a smaller bolt to see how deep the hole was first and then installed the sensor. Now I'm a bit worried that the sensor might touch the bottom of the hole as it seemed to be very close to the same depth as the bolt I first tried with.

Now to my question, what is the sensor touching if it reaches the bottom of the hole? Would it be touching moving parts? I looked at some exploded views of the tranny and it seems that it could be the clouch basket, but I don't know if it's a wall in between.

The second question would be if it's not moving parts but a wall it touches (if it touches) will the sensor read properly or will it give false readings for touching metal?

The reason for me asking instead of just putting a threaded spacer in between is that I would have to drive a long way to my the closest pneumatics dealer, so I want to be perfectly sure that it doesn't work like this befor I hit the road. But if it doesn't matter if it touches whatever is in the bottom of the testport I'll leave it as it is.

Regards,
Fredrik

greggbruce

iTrader: (1)

That is the pressure test port hole, there are no moving parts inside the hole. If it touches the end of the hole, I suppose it could be giving more of a temp of the aluminum case instead of the fluid in it, however, they will be close to the same anyway....
As long as it doesn't leak, and tightening it doesn't bottom out in the hole and then go farther as you tighten it to make it crack the case (thus internal pressure leak to the inside of the trans = BAD), then it should be ok.
I suppose you could wrap a layer or two of teflon tape around the sensor threads to keep it from going in as far and also sealing it well -- that might work. I wouldn't put too many spacers in it, as then if it gets air pocket there, might give more of an erroneous reading,

--just my thoughts

Nutti

Thanks, I had already mounted it but didn't dare to start befor I got an answer to this. I took it for a drive about 20miles and got a tempreading of just over 70'c in our +8'c climate. Is this normal temperature for highway driving? I had the same tranny in my blazer befor I did a auto to manual tranny swap but I can't remember the operating temperature anymore.

greggbruce

iTrader: (1)

usually will run at or even above engine coolant temp (but below is ok) -- the trans cooler is inside the radiator -- bad temp is 125c or over -- pull over and shut it off if you ever get close to that... there's a problem.

Nutti

Alright, at one point I noticed engine temp at the 105'c mark but tranny temp still at just above 70'c, so that could mean that I'm getting inaccurate readings. Maybe I should just find a shorter sensor or maybe it's possible to cut just a little piece off the tip?

paulo57509

Just my opinion, but I think you should be using something like this to mount the temperature sensor.

http://www.autometer.com/cat_accesso...st.aspx?pid=40

greggbruce

iTrader: (1)

I like the item linked by Paulo -- haven't seen one yet.
I wouldn't be cutting anything off the end of the sensor without contacting the manufacturer first, you might ruin it.

It is possible for your trans to be cooler than the engine, sometimes it does take a while (like 30 minutes or an hour of driving) for the temp to stop going up..... and if you have a secondary cooler in front of the radiator or something, it should stay cooler altogether.

What was the point of installing the gauge to start with? Just curiosity? or was there a problem before??

Nutti

The reason for adding the gauge was just fear of burning gears. Like I mentioned earlier I have a blazer that had the same tranny and I fried 3rd, 4th and reverse in it. I still remember the trannyshop bill... I just bought this car and tranny temp was something I wanted to know so that I could save me possible repair costs.

winter is coming so tomorrow will be the last time I'll be driving the car til next summer, so I'll see what I'll do. Maybe I could find a shorter sensor on ebay just to be on the safe side to know it's not making any contact.

Thanks for all the answers, now it's time to save up some money to rebuild the rearaxle, the pinion bearing is making noise and has some side to side play