64 cuda 273 temperature sender resistance?

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tone

tone

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I've got a 64 Barracuda with a 273 ... I've been troubleshooting the gauges and I think I'm at the point where I'm ready to say the temperature sender is just bad (or isn't the right one for the engine/gauge). When I ground the sender line, the gauge slowly moves its way up to the H end of the gauge, so I believe the voltage regulator is fine (same with the non-working gas gauge .. grounding it runs it up to the full mark - I think that one is just a bad float, but I haven't pulled out the sender yet to check).

Anyways, I pulled out the temperature sender and checked resistance - at about 90 F, it was reading somewhere around 170 ohms. I dipped it in a pot of boiling water and it was still reading around 50 ohms (and just barely got the gauge above the L mark (between the farthest left mark and the first mark for normal operating temperature).

What is the expected resistance across the sensor? I haven't been able to find an OE part number or replacements anywhere on the net, but I might just be looking in the wrong places.

Anyone have any input? Thanks in advance!
 
tone said:
I've got a 64 Barracuda with a 273 ... I've been troubleshooting the gauges and I think I'm at the point where I'm ready to say the temperature sender is just bad (or isn't the right one for the engine/gauge). When I ground the sender line, the gauge slowly moves its way up to the H end of the gauge, so I believe the voltage regulator is fine (same with the non-working gas gauge .. grounding it runs it up to the full mark - I think that one is just a bad float, but I haven't pulled out the sender yet to check).

Anyways, I pulled out the temperature sender and checked resistance - at about 90 F, it was reading somewhere around 170 ohms. I dipped it in a pot of boiling water and it was still reading around 50 ohms (and just barely got the gauge above the L mark (between the farthest left mark and the first mark for normal operating temperature).

What is the expected resistance across the sensor? I haven't been able to find an OE part number or replacements anywhere on the net, but I might just be looking in the wrong places.

Anyone have any input? Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

All your senders should read this if the regulator is working properly.
10 ohms is max
15 ohms is 3/4
20 ohms is half
40 ohms is 1/4
 
Thanks for the helpful info! Anyone know where I might find an OE replacement?
 
Might be right - they're listing the resistance at a specific temperature, instead of giving the actual range of the sensor for a given temp range. I couldn't find that part number because Napa doesn't have the Barracuda listed as a 64 model... but I did find it under the Valiant. I'll probably call around this weekend and find a Napa with that part number. And possibly get an autometer electric gauge and an NPT tee fitting. =)
 
Hs anyone found a temp sensor that reads correctly at 180 degrees? That sender should be around 25 ohms to get the gauge to read at half.
 
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