The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay Temperature Gauge Sending Unit Question

I have a 1958 Chevy 3100 it has a 350 Chevy engine. I recently replaced the original instrument cluster with one from Classic industries- part CX1963 - , it works with an electrical temperature gauge, however the sending unit in the engine is bad (I have confirmed this). After reading article after article I am more confused than ever. What is a good sending unit to use (where can I purchase a new one) for the combination I have?

If it is an aftermarket gauge you will need a sender to match the gauge. Check with the manufactor. If it is a factory gauge you can get the sender from any parts store. They used the same one for many years through the 50's 60's & early 70's. Make sure you get one for a gauge & not a light.

Good luck picking one up at your FLAPS. Those guys will ask for make and model, not your resistance vs pressure profile. I had to test my gauge with a variable resistor to get the resistance range of the gauge. Then I searched high and low for someone who could tell me what a sender was resistance wise at a certain pressure, it is not written on any box I looked at. Finally found one for a jeep that worked after I added a tad of series resistance to get the gauge to read spot on.
Wrenchbender is correct. The manufacturer should tell you what sender to use or sell it to you in a plain white box with big markup.