Has anyone here put an after market temp sensor where the coolant outlet line for the throttle body is located? That is the route I took for a cheap and easy cooling sensor solution and I just wanted some thoughts from others who may have done the same.
I did away with the fitting coming off of the head that the hose was clamped to, and installed a Tee fitting in its place. With the aftermarket senor in the Tee, coolant flows past the aftermarket sensor and still makes it to the throttle body.
Took the car for a drive (84 degrees today), and it seemed that it was working just fine. The sensor hung around 170-180 degrees. My laser thermometer wasnt too far off of that figure.
Now more to the point, if that reading is accurate, is that temperature fine? Is that a good place to be reading the temp? I assumed so since the actual sensor is just a few inches forward of it, but I always have the seed of doubt when modifying things. And the reason that im asking is because my fan never comes on. Ever. Even last July with temps pushing 100, not a single sound from the fan. And with no way of knowing what my temp was before, I was concerned. So I installed a toggle switch parallel to the fan switch in the rad and would just turn it on when at a stop light or when i just felt it was a good idea. I know, not the best way to do things, but the car still runs fantastic. Almost as if an S52 was meant to be in there.
So the fan works. Im going to assume the fan switch still works, bought it four years ago and i hardly drive my e30, and when I read the temp at the fan switch (on the top RH side of the rad) with a laser thermometer, it read between 110F to 130F degrees.
So my point to all of this is, is this a good spot to read coolant temp? Is the difference in head temp and the fan switch temp good? 170F at the head and around 120F at the switch. seems to me that the head will be way hotter when the switch finally decides to close. Fan switch i have installed should close at 180 degrees F.
I did away with the fitting coming off of the head that the hose was clamped to, and installed a Tee fitting in its place. With the aftermarket senor in the Tee, coolant flows past the aftermarket sensor and still makes it to the throttle body.
Took the car for a drive (84 degrees today), and it seemed that it was working just fine. The sensor hung around 170-180 degrees. My laser thermometer wasnt too far off of that figure.
Now more to the point, if that reading is accurate, is that temperature fine? Is that a good place to be reading the temp? I assumed so since the actual sensor is just a few inches forward of it, but I always have the seed of doubt when modifying things. And the reason that im asking is because my fan never comes on. Ever. Even last July with temps pushing 100, not a single sound from the fan. And with no way of knowing what my temp was before, I was concerned. So I installed a toggle switch parallel to the fan switch in the rad and would just turn it on when at a stop light or when i just felt it was a good idea. I know, not the best way to do things, but the car still runs fantastic. Almost as if an S52 was meant to be in there.
So the fan works. Im going to assume the fan switch still works, bought it four years ago and i hardly drive my e30, and when I read the temp at the fan switch (on the top RH side of the rad) with a laser thermometer, it read between 110F to 130F degrees.
So my point to all of this is, is this a good spot to read coolant temp? Is the difference in head temp and the fan switch temp good? 170F at the head and around 120F at the switch. seems to me that the head will be way hotter when the switch finally decides to close. Fan switch i have installed should close at 180 degrees F.