What sender do I need?

[old islander]

Hi Boaters,
I have a 78 Sea Ray 197 with an 898 305. The boat came with this goofy temp gauge that does not show temp. It is just a needle that swings through a little rainbow thing that starts out green, then goes to yellow, then to red. I want to replace this with a Teleflex gauge that actually has numbers on it. To me this thing is no better then an idiot light. Will the sender for that work with the Teleflex gauge, or do I need a different one. Most places that sell the gauges list nothing for the sensors needed to hook them up to. Anyone have any info?

 

[stonyloam]

Numbers are all well and good, but remember, a gauge is only accurate to +- 1/2 of the smallest increment. So if your gauge has 20 degree increments and is reading 160, the actual temperature could be anywhere between 150 and 170. Not much better than green, yellow red. The important thing is that the temperature comes up and holds steady at all throttle settings.

 

[old islander]

I understand what you are saying. It would be nice to equate the colors to a numerical value of some sort. My mind thinks in numbers better then colors. On the small block Chevys I have worked on in the past a temp number to equate things to, weather that be through a gauge, thermo laser, or temp probe can help with the diagnostics of a lot of problems.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... The sender, 'n wirin' oughta work just fine with the new gauge,.....

 

[gm280]

You could take a LASER thermometer and see what green, red and yellow equates too and then when the present gauge goes out of that color range, you know you have problems. Gauges are only good IF the person watches them and doesn't get complacent and forget all about them. Which is the usual thing with folks. That IS why red lights came about. A light popping on on the dashboard alerted folks that something was wrong... JMHO! A set reference point on any type gauge is the usual indication of what is going on...not the actual numbers...

 

[old islander]

BONDO!! How you doing? Long time since I posted and saw your name! Please tell me... Is the Islander still your boat? Or did you scrap it and crush every guy in the Starmada?

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... The ole hunk of tin poo is still tied to the dock,..... 'n still runnin' Great,....

The Good news is, I've been putzin' with that Nova I've got to replace it,....

Maybe this year,....

 

[old islander]

Best of luck with the Nova. Give the old tin girl a proper burial.....

 

[Bondo]

Give the old tin girl a proper burial.....

Ayuh,.... It'll probably be a sculpture in the backyard til the price of scrap comes back up,....

 

[Fun Times]

Like mentioned chances are the sender you have now will be the one you need but just in case you're looking for more info about matching temp senders with some model gauges and accuracy of all the components involved in the system then the website below may be of some interest to you.

http://www.james towndistributors.com/userportal/document.do?docId=842
^ You'll have to join the break between the S & T and search online due to the link is broken here.

The sender you have now may have an ID code on it, if so then there's a sender ID code chart that you can click on that may tell you the temperature range of the sender.