Temp senders keep crapping out

[Bill Crowell]

The car is a '62 Valiant with a 360 stuffed into it. It has an Edelbrock aluminum intake manifold, and of course the temp sender mounts in the intake. My temperature senders will last for about a year before they fail. I wonder why?? I'm wondering if you are supposed to use a different sender with an aluminum intake from the kind you would use in a cast iron intake or something. Or maybe I just ran into a bad batch of senders at the parts store.

 

[416stroker]

My factory temp sender is 40 years old and has been in aluminum intakes for most of its life and it still works fine. So I would guess that the type of metal isn't a factor. Not sure why your would be frying after a year. Maybe they're made overseas or something like that and the quality isn't very good. Or possibly a wiring issue with the sender wire.

Wish I was more help. Maybe someone else on here has had similar experiences and can offer some sound advice.

Good Luck!

 

[RedFish]

Next time it fails, back it out a turn and tighten it again. If its loosing its chassis ground that would cure it, for a while anyway. Could be crap senders.
Could be a intermittent short between the sender wire and the others in that harness, i.e. altenator. Have you had any other electrical gremlins ?

 

[grumpuscreature]

Do you have a ground strap from the engine to the chassis? MaMopar didn't use them for nothing.

 

[toolmanmike]

Do you use thread sealer or thread tape? That can cause problems. If the threads are tapped properly in the intake you should be able to screw in and tighten the sender without leaks. I use sealer on plugs but not on senders. toolmanmike

 

[Bill Crowell]

Yes indeed, toolmanmike, I used teflon tape. I'll try it without the tape and see how it works. Thanks a lot!

 

[redfastback]

Yes indeed, toolmanmike, I used teflon tape. I'll try it without the tape and see how it works. Thanks a lot!

Liquid teflon or anti-sieze is ok for sensors, just not the teflon tape.