Click on image for the lowdown. 
====
| | |
1 members (WingWright),
103
guests, and
1
robot. | | Key: Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod | | | Forums66 Topics128,049 Posts1,055,680 Members48,426 | | Most Online14,466
Apr 26th, 2026 | | AD Chevy Trucks  Over 6,000 pictures Brad Allen has an awesome collection of Chevrolet factory pictures that he has set up from film strips. Check them out!
Lots of work on Brad's part ... pure enjoyment (and references) for you!
| | THANKS!
For helping keep this great
old truck web site
on the Internet for over 30 years! and not clogged down
with Ads!  Again, thanks!
| | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 | I did a search on this subject but it seams all the temp gauge posts are electrical.
I installed a new mechanical temp gauge and it does not work. I have a new gauge for a 52 216 - 235 but my 235 is a 58 so I had to buy an adapter to replace the electrical switch that was there so my mechanical sender would fit. The adapter is brass and the nut on the sender bulb is zinc (I think). I used teflon tape to seal the adapter and nut on the bulb. Is the teflon tape keeping the sender from being grounded? I did not think it would matter since there is no wires to this unit. :confused:
52 Chevy 3100 5 Window, LS Swap, 4spd Auto, Vintage Air AC / Heat, CPP Power Front Disc Brake Conversion with bearing upgrade, Power Steering Conversion, LED Tail Lights
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,708 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,708 | Rcimp,
Your assumptions are correct, no wire, no grounding concerns. Your gauge should have come as a gauge/tube combination..install the gauge in the instrument cluster, stuff the probe into the block and read the temperature.
I think the ONLY way this wouldn't work is if the assembly was faulty somehow. Could the little needle have been mashed against the glass on installation and it can't move? Maybe the tube integrity is kaput. The least I would do is test the assembly using a pan of hot water on the stove...if it doesn't work their, it's warranty time.
The nut and bulb assembly have a little seat that mechanically seal them in the original application. Could you have damaged the bulb when you mated it with the aftermarket bushing you installed in the '58 head.
Stuart | | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 | Damaged how? Install the adapter, install the nut and tighten. I have seen these bulbs in my old wrench turning days smashed, bent, kinked and they still worked. As long as it wasn't split open they worked. I'll take another look at what I got. I just wanted to make sure the teflon tape was not the culprit.
Thanks for the input
52 Chevy 3100 5 Window, LS Swap, 4spd Auto, Vintage Air AC / Heat, CPP Power Front Disc Brake Conversion with bearing upgrade, Power Steering Conversion, LED Tail Lights
| | | | | Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,708 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Jul 2004 Posts: 5,708 | Rcimp,
I'm going on memory here...on a factory head that accepted the little bulb and nut, the seat of the hole had a nice soft radius to it that fit the flange on the bulb. The nut that was captured by the capillary tube forced the bulb down onto the seat and mechanically sealed the whole thing. The nut wasn't a tapered pipe thread but merely a means of compressing the whole mess together.
I just thought if the bulb was assembled with brute force against a sharply machined bushing that it might split or break the bulb and let all the magic moose juice out, which would spell instant death.
Stuart | | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 | Ok, I gotcha now, I am trying to get the truck running for inspection for license plates. I will pull it out later and inspect. I don't need a temp gauge to pass inspection. Thanks for your help.
52 Chevy 3100 5 Window, LS Swap, 4spd Auto, Vintage Air AC / Heat, CPP Power Front Disc Brake Conversion with bearing upgrade, Power Steering Conversion, LED Tail Lights
| | | | | Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 191 Shop Shark | | Shop Shark Joined: Jun 2005 Posts: 191 | Not sure what brand you've got, but Autometer specifically states that if the line is kinked it won't register at the gauge: Now, we can briefly discuss also how the gauge itself works. What we do is run a hollow copper tube from the end of the line (commonly referred to as the sender "bulb") all the way into the gauge, then cover it with a protective plastic/rubber-like covering. This line is filled with ether gas, so if you have ever broken or cut one and get a funny smell or some white fluid on you, don't worry, it is not harmful. When the sender is in the intake, head, trans or oil pan (or whatever you are monitoring) the temperature heats the ether gas inside the tubing. This makes the gas expand and thus "push" the meter that is inside the gauge. This moves the pointer and shows you the temperature. However, if this hollow copper tube is kinked or doubled-over itself, the line will be shut and the gauge will not work. This moves the pointer and shows you the temperature. However, if this hollow copper tube is kinked or doubled-over itself, the line will be shut and the pressure would not reach the gauge, so you would never see the gauge reflect any temp readings at all. This is also true if the line is ever cut or the sender bulb is removed; once the ether gas escapes the line, there is nothing to "push" against the meter to register any temperature readings at all. | | | | | Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 'Bolter | | 'Bolter Joined: Mar 2007 Posts: 81 | Robin 58, thanks for the info, I am 99% sure the line has never been kinked or bent. I have had the gauge cluster in and out a couple of times working on my fuel gauge, I guess it is possible I may have bent it taking the cluster in and out. I will take a took.
52 Chevy 3100 5 Window, LS Swap, 4spd Auto, Vintage Air AC / Heat, CPP Power Front Disc Brake Conversion with bearing upgrade, Power Steering Conversion, LED Tail Lights
| | |
|
|
