The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Temperature gauge.

I'm here for a second opinion.
My jeep has a temp gauge that isn't working.
There's a hollow steel or copper tube that comes out the back and goes into the block. I've been told that the tube is full of ether!
Can this be true? Ever heard of a system like this?

Yeah Jim, it's called a capillary tube. All the old "bolts" had 'em too. My '54 235 has one. I didn't know they were filled with ether though, I just thought they were hollow (?)

So, what's the pressure gauge full of? Chrithmath?

Now that's funny right there!!

I didn't ask, or don't remember, but the guy who rebuilt my 37 guages filled mine with some kind of gas. Mike says that this is one of the most accurate guages there is but I know sometime they can be a pain to route and be careful not to bend it or brake the solder connection. They aren't as touchy as you think but be careful handling them.

Yup, it's ether! I made the mistake og breaking the tube on mine. Got a good whiff of it. Garage smelled like ether for a few hours afterwards.

Actually, your tube is NOT filled with ether, and that's the problem--it should be. I just had mine repaired and calibrated by a guy back east (Vermont I think). It cost around $100.00. If you need the contact you can email me and I'll get it to you. He also wrapped the capillary tube with a spiral wire to protect it in the future.

I was curious about the dynamics of ether and why it is used. Searching around I found a DIY repair for these tubes in your own garage. It sounded very do-able too.

Stuart

hotshoe36, your comment made me blow coffee out my nose.
Thanks!

Carter's has a guy that repairs them I think in the $60.00 range

atomarc, so where did you find the information on this repair?

BIG CHEVY 3600,


Right about here!

http://www.ply33.com/Repair/tempgauge


Stuart

diet pepsi, here. Now gotta clean up the mess. Funny!

How cool is that!Had no idea one could "try this at home"..the Stovebolt continues to fascinate!

:rolleyes:

Pressure gauges are filled with a gooey marshmallow-peep center, to go with the ether in the temp gauges.

Duh.



(It's actually engine oil, but who's counting?)

Hillarious Hotshoe36.

I think Ether is used because it boils at a low temp and creates pressure as a gas. This pressure is what deflects the needle. I had read an article, and the refilling seems do-able. Its the calibration that I couldn't figure out. That's why I sent mine out.

I know how delicate a capillary tube can be so I was very careful when I removed it and replaced mine following a valve job. When I was starting the square flare nut into the head I got a whiff of something that at first I hoped was antifreeze but alas I knew it was that distinctive odor of ether. Most young people today don't know what it smells like because we are so protected from all those chemicals that were common everyday items years ago. For us old timers when we were kids it was not unusual to be exposed to and use ether, chloroform, formaldehyde, carbon tetrachloride, lye, mercury, carbide, leaded gas, etc. These were common cleaning chemicals or things that were used to capture and preserve our bug collections or to experiment with. In fact between Walgreen’s and the hardware store you could buy almost any chemical that you wanted back then. I remember buying over the counter at Walgreen’s the fixings for making black powder, potassium nitrate a.k.a. salt peter, sulfur and charcoal.
The temp gauge worked just fine before I pulled the head and now she’s a dead duck. So maybe I’ll try the fix your pointing me to Stu.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I will never forget the nurse putting that black rubber mask over my face and the smell of ether when I had my tonsils out in the fall of 51. Thank goodness for better methods of pain suppression.

I'll never forget organic chem lab. Day after day of ether. Fell asleep a couple of times on the bus on the way home and it was only a 15 minute ride. Our professor told us how they used to wash their hands in benzene until somebody noticed that the incidence of certain cancers was much higher in lab personel than the general populace and was able to trace it back to high levels of benzene in their bodies. What's really serious is how everything is labled as dangerous in labs now days; so, you stop taking any of the warning labels seriously. If I had known how low of a dose of carbon tet was carcinogenic and how low of a dose was lethel, I wouldn't have handled it without gloves. But, when even the D.I. water is labeled you tend to ignore the labels.

Big Chevy 3600,
my Brother had his out the same way, on the kitchen table! I wasn't around yet to witness it, thank goodness!

If you arn't a strictly stock person it would be a lot cheaper to change over to electric.