My overhead console thermometer is acting screwy. It got very cold here in Michigan about a month ago...temps below -10F. I watched my thermometer drop from -1 to -4 to -9 then suddenly readout 37. I know I did not find a pocket of warm air and it does not seem to be as accurate as it was going into winter. Does anyone know where the thermocouple is located for the termperature? I suspect it could be comprimised. I really like this feature and must have it back!!..but I know the thermometer is not accurate anymore. Any ideas???

Thanks,
Herf

 

The temp sender for it is generally located on the front of the radiator core support. Check there and you should find it.

 

Herf
I noticed last night that my outside temp gauge was acting funny too. Please let me know what you find out. It was snowing hard last night and it was reading 42 degrees outside.

 

The temp sensor is located under the plastic radiator cover, remove the plastic fasteners and remaove the cover, the sensor is on the rad support on the drivers side.
You can check the sensor by removing it and in this weather take it inside and allow it to stabelize at room temp. Conect an ohm meter to the two sensor leads and check the resistance. At a temp between 65 and 85 f. the ohm reading should be between 8,000 and 14,000 ohms if not the sensor is bad. I would also check for a clean conection at this point as any extra resistance will cause it io read high.
Acording to the service manual if this checks ok then the next step is to check the wiring for opens lb/og wire and pk/bk wires should have less than 5 ohm. You are checking from conecter at temp sensor to conecter at guage. if all is good it is the gugae/ compas hope this helps

 

I had this happen to me last winter, maybe early spring. I changed the sending unit, and all is good. The sending unit was under $20 at the dealer...

Same symptoms...

Matt

 

Just a quick thanks. My console was reading 47* tonight, and it is snowing. I don't have an ohm meter, so I'm going to replace the sending unit.

I did this search to find out where the sending unit is. Thanks Chucks for that detailed explaination.

 

I just paid $100 for that sensor.

F3VY 12A647 A

Did the price go up, or was I gouged?

 

Greencrew-
I don't know. I know that I would not have done the repair if it was more than $50, or I would have checked things out further, but I remember asking the price, and figuring that it was cheap enough not to hurt if that was not the problem. I will look and see if I saved the receipt, and compare part numbers with yours.

Might be a few days, as the truck is in the body shop.



Matt

 

Thanks, I take it the receipt is in the truck.

 

Yeah, If I DID save it, it will be in the glove compartment (or "glove DEpartment"...as my linguistically-challenged friend likes to call it...)

Matt

EDIT: at the very least, I will ask again at the parts counter, when I pick it up on Tuesday, they tell me..

 

$100 sounds like BS to me. That sensor looks like the coolant temp. sensor Ford has used for years. May be different internally though.

SL

 

I just have to stop and laugh at myself. I talked to the boys about this over breakfast. One handed me a ohm meter and said: "here, use this one!." I removed the sensor, and tested both with the ohm meter. At this point I finally fugured out that I don't know how to read an ohm meter???

Both read the same now, but I still need to wait until the one from the truck needs to warm up to room temp. The reading looks like 40 on my small ohm meter. Maybe both are bad???

 

Well, my pal at Ford confirmed your price greencrew. Next time, check Motorcraft. The Motorcraft piece DY-718 only costs me $48.98, while the the Ford unit lists at $99.00, costing me $79.20.

SL

 

What is the difference between Motorcraft and Ford parts? I thought all Ford parts were Motorcraft? My box says Motorcraft. Is the part number is Ford???

 

Motorcraft makes a great number of, but certainly not all, parts for Ford. If Ford contracts Motorcraft to make it, it gets a Ford number, and (IMPORTANT HERE) Ford warranties it differently than a Motorcraft numbered piece.

Example: Antifreeze. The dealer could buy it anywhere. Let's say some work is done on the cooling system, and something gets royally screwed up. If the ticket has a non-Ford part number antifreeze on it, any and all repairs needed to fix the affected parts would probably be coming out of the wallet of the dealership owner(if he decides not to screw the vehicle's owner), not Ford's.

Motorcraft can also---provided no proprietary contract exists---sell the part under their own number to the aftermarket. You will sometimes see both numbers on the package. If the part is in a Ford (blue and white) bag/box it has to have the Ford number on it. If in a Motorcraft (red and white) package it could have either or both.

The part you purchased has a Ford number F3VY-12A647-A. You could've picked up a Motorcraft DY-718 and found an identical item in a similar or maybe identical box. Gotta check around my man. Check here first in the future.

SL