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will the factory 73 temperature gauge work with a ka?


sid240z

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I have a 96 ka24de in my 73z, and I connected the temperature sensor to the factory tempeture gauge. It reads it like if the stock engine was in it, but can I trust it? I would hate to overheat and blow something on my Ka I rebuilt it when it was in my s14 and its running around 4k miles on it when I did the swap. This will be temporary sence I'm going to put in a Autometer temp. gauge. 

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Compare resistance values between the two sensors.  Use a meter or check the FSM's.  My 95 Pathfinder FSM has resistance values listed, just like my 76 280Z FSM.  They call it the "thermal transmitter" in 1995.

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The sensor curves are identical. The output from a 1968 L16, a 1972 L24, a 1983 L28ET, 1989 VG30, 1999 VG30DETT, or any Nissan for that matter is the same.

 

The harness and connector is more suspect (changes the reading by skewing the resistance higher) and causing gauge reading error. Note your resistance in the meter loop from the gauge, and at the sensor to local ground---that will tell you how far any gauge has been affected by harness or connection resistance.

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Teach a man to fish or hand him a fish, plus several more.

 

Are you sure that the curves are the same?  I can't find the full curve for 1976 (or 1973) but the FSM says that 116 ohms = 50 C (BE-46, testing the gauge with a resistor).  Plotting 1995 Pathfinder data, (EL-41) gives ~96 ohms at 50 C.  It's on the low temperature end so less relevant, but still not the same.

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Actually the answer is no. The stock will not work accurately with the ka sending unit. I bought a equus electric temp gauge today, and threw it on while leaving the stock gauge working with the ka sending unit. the stock gauge with the ka sending unit read 230-240 F. The equus gauge with and adaptor I bought (ones that goes on a radiator hose) would read 180-190F. All this while running the car hard all night.

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That has nothing to do wit it...all you have defined is the stock Datsun gauges are inaccurate.

 

 

Wow, whoodathunkit? You don't say????

 

I've seen 240's do exactly the same thing. Why is the FIRST answer to EVERY overheating post "have you verified your actual temp with a meat thermometer?"

 

Please the definitive statement in your post. It is in error. If you go check the thermal sending pairs, you will see they are identical between the two senders in question. If you plot the actual difference in displayed temperature, the skew is less than 20 ohms, and that can be attributed to wiring losses in some cars! It's not 80-vs-120 different though!

Edited by Tony D
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I used the stock SR sending unit(same as KA) with the stock 240Z gauge and it works great. It is in the middle when it should be. I have had aftermarket gauges not work all that great. Hook up the stock one and be happy.

 

Oil pressure needs the Z sending unit.

Tach needs a fake coil signal and a 280Z tach since it is adjustable.

Get  the right gear off a pickup for the speedometer and reclock it for correct gear contact(match trans original location).

 

I have all the original gauges and nobody knows it's a monster until I hit the go pedal, except for the big brakes and 17's.

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