Purple ring temperature sensor

Post by **jkxr4ti** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 1:32 pm

Anyone have a temp/resistance transfer for the purple ring sensor? I would even be happy with a resistance value at room temp if you have that.

Mike McCreight · Post by **Mike McCreight** » Wed Sep 07, 2005 5:25 pm

I saved a post from our webmaster from years back... Paul???
Do you remember what resistance was used to get the Mustang sender to comply with our gauge??
I thought I needed one, but then I removed the sender, and found it clogged with a cement like substance in the lower intake coolant passage. Cleaned all of that crud out of there, and the gauge functions perfectly!
Try pulling the coolant hose off the lower intake. If there's no coolant flow, might be a cheap fix!
Mike.

Post by **jkxr4ti** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 9:39 am

Been there. All passage ways are clean, grounds to the block and intake maifold checked. I am basically looking for a work around for use with one of the standard ford sensors or gut a sensor and insert a thermistor of the correct curve. Tried searching on turboford also, only found the VAT and ACT sensor curves/resistances vs temperatures.
Surely with the purple ring sensors being hard to find someone must have documented it already.

Post by **Ed Lijewski** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 1:32 pm

Saved from an IMON posting:

"My five year old 'Purple Ring' temperature sender failed, leaving the needle lurking in the cool end of the scale despite 95 degree weather.

I tried BAT, Rapido, Fusz etc but they are discontinued and out of stock.
After some experimentation, I managed to use an aftermarket Mustang sender successfully by adding a 34 Ohm resistor in series with the sender.

Here is the mod:
1 Car Quest 85094 Temp Sender $4.44

2 68 Ohm/0.5 Watt resistors $0.40
Radio Shack 271-1106 (Qty 5)

1 pair of snap connectors $1.69
Radio Shack 64-3086 (Qty 5)

1" heat shrink tubing or tape

1) The temp sender screws in the stock location. This can be done on a cool engine without draining the system. Unscrew the old sender from the 'T' at the bottom of the inlet manifold and put your finger over the hole to stop the coolant coming out. Then screw in the new sender.

2) Twist the leads and preferably solder the two resistors in parallel.

3) Cut the resistor leads short & crimp a male snap connector to one end of the two resistors and a female snap connector to the other end.

4) Insulate the assembly with heat shrink tubing or high-temp electrical
tape.

5) Plug one end of the resistor assembly onto the temp sender and the single wire that used to plug onto the sender plugs onto the other end of the resistor assembly.

Done! It works perfectly with the gauge normally indicating a shade below the horizontal and rising to a shade above in stop/start traffic when the fans come on. Yes I could use a 34/35 Ohm resistor, but RS didn't have any.

I hope this helps someone. The coolant gauge is the most important one on this car. Ask me how I know!"

Post by **jkxr4ti** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:04 pm

Thanks Ed!

xr4man · Post by **xr4man** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 8:04 pm

can anyone tell me what year mustang the sender is from?

i'm having a hard time finding that particular part number.

Post by **DPDISXR4Ti** » Fri Jul 13, 2007 10:16 pm

xr4man wrote:can anyone tell me what year mustang the sender is from?

I'll take a SWAG that a '88 2.3 Mustang would get you what you need. If that proves to be wrong, remember how much you paid for this "information".

John R. Rowlands · Post by **John R. Rowlands** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:43 am

jkxr4ti,

Try this place first. http://www.greensalescompany.com/

John

xr4man · Post by **xr4man** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 1:59 pm

i read in another post that some dude used a sender from a 87 tempo, so i went and got one last night to try it. it doesn't work worth crap. i ohmed it out when the fans came on and it was reading 200k ohms. i also performed the test with a 19 ohm resistor and a 240 ohm resistor according to the manual and that shows that my gauge is working perfectly no fluctuations, so my voltage regulator in the gauge is good. next call is to rapido.

xr4man · Post by **xr4man** » Thu Jul 19, 2007 8:38 am

has anyone tried a temp sender from a cosworth?

the instrument clusters are directly swappable right? so that would mean that the sender had to have the same properties.

xr4man · Post by **xr4man** » Fri Jul 20, 2007 6:58 pm

ok, i ordered a cosworth temp sender. in a few weeks when it gets here i'll let you all know if it works or not.

Post by **jkxr4ti** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 12:36 am

I'm currently using the modification above with a 33 ohm resistor in series with the mustang unit. Its works well and i would do it again if needed. Oh, and its cheap plus readily available, thats gotta be a plus right?

Post by **jasonty** » Sun Jul 22, 2007 3:05 am

John R. Rowlands wrote:jkxr4ti,

Try this place first. http://www.greensalescompany.com/

John

Post by **Ed Lijewski** » Mon Jul 23, 2007 1:46 pm

jkxr4ti wrote:I'm currently using the modification above with a 33 ohm resistor in series with the mustang unit. Its works well and i would do it again if needed. Oh, and its cheap plus readily available, thats gotta be a plus right?

IIRC, the poster's question was what year Mustang temp sender? For what year is the one you bought?

YMMV

xr4man · Post by **xr4man** » Wed Jul 25, 2007 10:13 am

yes please.

so i can try a mustang sender if the cosworth one doesn't work.