[Tiersin]

Alright, my water temp guage has been broken for months now and its time to replace it. While i am getting a stock piece, I would like to have an aftermarket one too. I know my stock dosnt work because it stoped rising and just sits there on the bottom. I know the sender works though.

My question is how complicated is it to install these? What would i need? I know i need a pillar pod, but what about sending units and all that.
Heres a link to some that i was looking at. Any help will be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[jfrolang]

Maybe you could look into a replacement gauge cluster. It's a good excuse to upgrade to a JDM or EDM cluster too. Or you might just have a broken or loose wire somewhere.

Aftermarket gauges are easy to install with an aftermarket gauge pod. You can buy DIN-sized cutouts to fit the radio slot, or buy pods for the A-pillar. Your other option is to get creative and custom mount them wherever you want. Any custom location that requires cutting will likely be permanent, so don't make a hasty decision.

It looks like the water temp gauge on your provided link includes a sender and a pair of adapters. So all you would have to do is mount the new sender in the stock location, run the signal wire to the gauge, and then run 12V switched power and ground. That's it.

The advantage of an aftermarket water temp gauge is that it will give you an accurate reading. The stock gauge is designed to stay in one place for the whole range of normal operating temp. It will only move when it's above or below that predetermined range.

 

[stick]

The stock temperature gauge is also relative. It's only useful to you if you know what the normal position of the needle is for your vehicle. I've driven a different CRX and looked at the guage and almost freaked out because the temperature looked high. However, that was the normal position on that gauge for the normal operating temperature. There's a reason why a lot of the guages and lights on the stock cluster are known as "idiot lights" or "idiot gauges". They don't tell you very much.

 

[Tiersin]

Thanks guys. Yea, the reason i want an aftermarket one is because of the accuracy. I hate the stock one. I did a check of the continuity of the wires for the guage one and found them to be ok, so i believe its just a bad guage in the pod. I'd upgrade to JDM or EDM, but i'm tight on $$$ right now. Definatly in my plans for the future though.

 

[shorte]

I put my aftmkt. temp sender in the water outlet where the bleeder valve was, just rethreaded it for 1/8th npt. I had a pic but can't find it...

 

[stick]

I put my aftmkt. temp sender in the water outlet where the bleeder valve was, just rethreaded it for 1/8th npt. I had a pic but can't find it...

I think that is probably a good placement too. You want the sending unit to be closest to the engine where the coolant is coming out to go to the radiator. This is where the coolant will be at it's hottest. If you put the temperature sending unit on the coolant return line from the radiator, you'll get a significantly lower temperature reading.

 

[Tiersin]

Alright, it comes with a temp sensor. If i remember what the stock one looks like correctly, it seems like a direct replacement. I'll post a pic when i get it done.

 

[Tiersin]

Alright, of course, theres a problem. I dont think that the sender will fit into the origonal hole. How hard would it be to drill and tap a new one. I was thinking about the bleeder valve idea. I've never done this before, what would i need and how much would it be?

Another thing. I have seen fittings where you just cut a radiator hose and put it in between, but i am unable to find them on the internat. And info on this matter would be helpfull. Thanks

 

[shorte]

Don't know about the rad hose one but the bleeder tap is pretty easy.
Take the outlet off and drill out the bleeder hole to whatever size hole it says to on a 1/8npt tap, then tap the hole. Sorry I don't remember what the regular drill bit size is, at worst find a drill bit the same size as the very smallest part of the npt tap. hth
Oh and I'm assuming your sending unit is 1/8npt...?

 

[Tiersin]

OK, I went and I found a solution that may work. Autometer makes radiator fittings that you simply install in the radiator hoses. You can find them on there web site. I'm going to order one of these. I just dont feel comfortable at my skill level to be resizing the bleeder valve. I just think this is a better option for me. Thanks everyone for all your help.

 

[crxrocks]

I realize this was a week ago, but I thought I would add this for anyone else.

I was able to use the stock sender location on the head for an autometer sender. Just remove the sender and install the autometer sender. Of course the stock gauge doesn't work any more but the autometer sender works well.