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i have an 02 didge neon and was woundering how to hook up a digital water temp. i seen where they use the "t" fitting but what im woundering is, has anone ever use the water temp adapter?http://tinyurl.com/6pp9sz
do these work and if they do what size radiator hose do we have?
thanks for all the help

don't know for an 02 neon but would assume it the same as my 2005 one which is that it should be no bigger than 36mm but that looks about the same as mine

are you using the adapter? does it go on the top hose or the bottom hose ?

moving to engine

You would want to use the top hose because that's the hot side. The bottom hose is the one that connects to the water pump inlet tube...

The only problem with the radiator hose is it will only be accurate as long as the t'stat is open.

is this the best way to go or is the "t" fitting where the factory one is better?

The heater tubes are the best bet, (other than drilling/tapping a new hole in the cyl. head)
Where they attach to the firewall splice the rubber tube. you'll need to trace it back to the one that comes from the nipple in the head by the water neck. It should be the top pipe. You will need to fab a tee from pipe fittings or a copper sweat tee if you are good at soldering. just use hose barbs to attach the hose so it doesn't slip off. This may not be the easiest solution, but doing the tee in the OEM location can't be the easiest either.
The coolant flows at all times the engine is running in the tubes, as it is the only path the coolant has to circulate when the t'stat is shut.

I already did mine... I'll take a photo tomorrow morning... So, to clear things up, if you're looking at the heater hose beside the battery, then it is the one on the "bottom".... You will see what i mean when you trace it all the way back... Good luck! it took me about 30mins with me taking my time. I used one of those metal clamps that you screw tight from home depot to clamp the hose down onto the T. And i cut the hose with a really sharp fruit knife

As promised, here's mine...

Nice and compact. Advantage electrical sender. The thermal bulb type for mechanical temp senders require a much bigger tee, due to the size of the sender.

well since this threads about the water temp gauge i didnt feel like starting a new topic so ill ask my question here.

during winter season bein the temperatures are below 45 what would be considered normal engine temp ? as my gauge only reads up to like 150 rite now on say a 20 minute drive.

just wondering what your guys reads ?

Um... it's been about in the 30s around here... and mine constantly reads about 5 +/- 210 after it warms up after about 10 mins... I mean it's a good thing it's 150 but also might mean it probably isn't reading correctly... where did you hook it up to?

dodgeneonzl wrote:Um... it's been about in the 30s around here... and mine constantly reads about 5 +/- 210 after it warms up after about 10 mins... I mean it's a good thing it's 150 but also might mean it probably isn't reading correctly... where did you hook it up to?

wow the only time mine has read up to 200 was when my car overheated back in july. in regular warm temps like 70-80 itll read up to 180 usually no more than that.

but i have it hooked up to the top radiator hose. is there another place to set it at ?

From this thread.

occasional demons wrote:The only problem with the radiator hose is it will only be accurate as long as the t'stat is open.

dodgeneonzl wrote:As promised, here's mine...

The bottom (lower) heater tube, which comes from the cyl. head. the top one is the return from the heater/bypass. They swap from top to bottom when they make the turn around the head.

occasional demons wrote:From this thread.

occasional demons wrote:The only problem with the radiator hose is it will only be accurate as long as the t'stat is open.

dodgeneonzl wrote:As promised, here's mine...

The bottom (lower) heater tube, which comes from the cyl. head. the top one is the return from the heater/bypass. They swap from top to bottom when they make the turn around the head.

so does it mean that my gauge isnt reading the correct temp when say its at 180 or 160.

If it is mounted in the big hose that goes directly from the t'stat housing to the radiator then prolly not. (It is correct for the temp of the coolant in the hose) About the only time it would be close is when the t'stat opens enough to flow a decent amount, otherwise it just lets enough seep through to maintain the temp stamped on the t'stat. Depending on the location of the splice, the coolant is cooler than what's on the engine side of the t'stat.

Edit

oh ok cool. thanks.

ok after reading the instrutions it say i can remove the stock temp sender as long as it doesnt run to the pcm. well guess what it does so my question now is. can i hook up my digital gauge to the stock sender by splicing into the wire or is the senders diffrent? i want to say it could be done but not really sure. anyone know for sure or ever try it?

It would only work if the range of both senders are the same. And usually mopar senders don't match the aftermarket.

So... i haven't been here for a while, so wait what? So reading around 210 is bad? the temperature reading on the oem gauge cluster stays at the 1/4 mark when aftermarket gauge reads about 210 unless my aftermarket gauge is bad?

Occasionaldemon, so the setup that i have is only accurate when the t'stat is open? so... when is the t'stat open and close? Mine seems to read ok so far, i dunno maybe i'm overlooking something? Thanks man, because if it was a bad setup then i might think about relocating it.

my temperature reads about 190, when its extremely hot weather it reads about 210. Connect the sender to the back of the engine block. I have my stock sender and aftermarket both working.

dodgeneonzl wrote:So... i haven't been here for a while, so wait what? So reading around 210 is bad? the temperature reading on the oem gauge cluster stays at the 1/4 mark when aftermarket gauge reads about 210 unless my aftermarket gauge is bad?

Occasionaldemon, so the setup that i have is only accurate when the t'stat is open? so... when is the t'stat open and close? Mine seems to read ok so far, i dunno maybe i'm overlooking something? Thanks man, because if it was a bad setup then i might think about relocating it.

Your set up is good. 210ºF is normal. The t'stat thing is only if the sender was in the upper radiator hose. The coolant only flows there when the t'stat is open. The heater hose tubes are the best option for aftermarket.
UNDERGROUND6T9, where on the back of the block is there a place to install a sender, other than the drain, which should read cooler than the head. The block drain would be a PITA to do.

evilneon02: Edit that damn url with tinyurl so this thread isn't two miles wide! http://tinyurl.com/

ahhh, so i guess false alarm then huh? yeah, underground6t9, i was also wondering where you would go about getting the sender on the back of the block. The only other place that i can think of when i had the motor out was the place where the block heater was at, but even then it'll be a pita to fabricate a way to get it in without ruining the heater itself.

thanks for the tiny website it will help alot. im going to try to tap into the factory sender just to see if it works. if not then i have to go the hose i guess. wise me luck

so i was reading trough this again and can someone let me know what i need to do that small hose thing that occasional demons did. like can i use my elec sender that i use now or what can i use. cause again i thought mine was acurate back when i did it as i was never on forums but i guess my gauge only reads to 160 when its cold and the oem gauge is at the regular line.


thanks.

I believe i did mine the same way ocassionaldemon did... so basically you cut the bottom heater hose with something sharp (long sharp kitchen fruit knife works well), cut it straight through at 90 degree angle to the hose... go to home depot and get a T adaptor for pipes, and connect one end of the T to one of the hose, and the other to the other straight through end to the other hose. then stick your aftermarket thermostat on the 90 degree end. You should get your thermostat in the T first before you connect it to the hose, that'll make it easier.

So basically you want your coolant to flow freely through, but at the same time use the T basically to stick your thermostat right in the flow of the coolant. Hope this helps....

edit: wait... did you put it in the heater hose and still get 160? or did you use another location?

dodgeneonzl wrote:I believe i did mine the same way ocassionaldemon did... so basically you cut the bottom heater hose with something sharp (long sharp kitchen fruit knife works well), cut it straight through at 90 degree angle to the hose... go to home depot and get a T adaptor for pipes, and connect one end of the T to one of the hose, and the other to the other straight through end to the other hose. then stick your aftermarket thermostat on the 90 degree end. You should get your thermostat in the T first before you connect it to the hose, that'll make it easier.

So basically you want your coolant to flow freely through, but at the same time use the T basically to stick your thermostat right in the flow of the coolant. Hope this helps....

edit: wait... did you put it in the heater hose and still get 160? or did you use another location?

no on no lol well before i knew how to do anything and keep in mind this was when i was modding my car a year and a half ago since i did my gauges but i just used the regular way it says wich is on the top radiator hose so i dont get a perfect reading.

im just bored and wanted something to do tomorrow so i think ill get to the store and pick me up a t and some small clamps and a new top radiator hose ( since i had to cut mine )and man i guess some fluid since itll drain out rite ?


but oh yeah my sender now is like reaking long and would cutting at the end of the sender hurt it ( im guessing that what u guys had to do )

thanks for the reply.

um... you mean like the aftermarket thermostat sender? mine was like probably around 1 inch long... and that includes the threading part.... so i didn't cut mine... i won't recommend cutting it though... just in case you cut through something electrical... if it's really long you can try getting an adaptor... like if yours was 1/8 thread for the sender, then get a T with a 3/4 thread and then get another 3/4 to 1/8 adaptor... that should extend the T outward a little bit more so you can fit the sender.... but remember you want the stick of the sender to be within the flow of the coolant..... something like this.... so that the therometer will give a more accurate reading...



hope this makes sense... sorry i know it's a bad sketch...

how big is the heater hose so i know wut size clamp and t fitting to get