Pos Tranny temp gauge

[thegipper]

My glowshift tranny temp gauge has been acting up. After the truck was thoroughly warmed up, it was still reading 80 degrees which is the lowest it can go.

I bought a new sender thinking this one was bad. Installed new sender and it still doesn't move past 80 degrees.

It never did this before.

Removed the connectors and cleaned them all up, still not working.

Here's the kicker. If I use a heat gun on the T fitting where the sender is, after I get it pretty hot, the gauge goes up to 130ish.

Wth is going on? There can't be a break in the wire because it eventually goes up when I apply heat with the heat gun.

Bad Gauge?

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[theesotericone]

Bad Gauge?

Most likely. I try to warn everyone to stay away from Glow Shit. No one seems to listen though. Then these threads pop up about the gauges not working. How long have you had it installed?

 

[thegipper]

About 2 years, maybe a little less so no warranty. They said to replace the sender, which is what I did and it still doesn't work.

Trust me, I won't be recommending glow shift to anyone ever again...

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[LittleCaesar]

Auto meter is the only one I have ever heard that rarely fails.

 

[thegipper]

Auto meter is the only one I have ever heard that rarely fails.

Yeah it seems like most of them are junk. Even the cheaper autometer ones get bad reviews.

:shrug:

 

[19963.4lsr5]

Post a picture of your installation.


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[thegipper]

i'll try to do that later but its installed fine. It was working fine for 1.5 years until all of a sudden it's not reading accurately.

There really isn't much to it. I used a T fitting and the sender is pointed down like it always been. There are only two wires, I've checked both and there are no breaks and no corrosion.

At this point, I'm 99% sure its the gauge itself especially since it will register a temp when I heat it up with a heat gun.

 

[LittleCaesar]

Yeah it seems like most of them are junk. Even the cheaper autometer ones get bad reviews.

:shrug:

For all the aftermarket installs of gauges, in ten years AM is the one I see that fails the least. But yea, they all fail.

Post a pic or two when you install the new one.

 

[19963.4lsr5]

If you have the patience run a mechinacial temp gauge with a capillary tube. I'm partial to Stewart-Warner gauges.


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[thegipper]

Well guys, against my better judgement, I ordered a replacement Glowshift tranny gauge.

I figured I'd give them one more shot which is probably a dumb idea.

At least I don't have to install anything other than swapping the gauge out. Which I did, and it works fine. So it does look like the gauge itself took a deuce.

cheers

 

[theesotericone]

Well guys, against my better judgement, I ordered a replacement Glowshift tranny gauge.

I figured I'd give them one more shot which is probably a dumb idea.

Remember this meme and think of me if it ever when it fails again.

I hope this one last a lot longer for you though.

 

[thegipper]

Ok, never mind.

Even with a new gauge, it still doesn't seem to be working correctly. I just drove to work (about 13 miles) and the gauge never moved.

Since the sensor is brand new and the gauge is brand new, it has to be something with the wiring. Perhaps the ground isn't making a good connection or there is corrosion within the wiring somewhere?

This is so damn weird.

 

[thegipper]

Update on this:

Finally had some time to work on this problem. To make a super long story short(ish), I tried diagnosing this in every way possible (except the final way which I should have done to begin with).

I thought for sure it was some kind of electrical problem but after swapping out new sensors, gauges, wiring harness to the gauge and all wires involved, it looks like the problem is hydraulic.

For whatever reason, fluid is not properly flowing past the sensor in the brass T fitting. How the hell it did for over a year and half is mind blowing to me because it worked fine all that time. All of a sudden now, I'll get a reading but a low reading (confirmed several ways).

I ended up boiling some water in a cup (like someone suggested but I was too dumb to actually try it) and putting the sensor in it while it was hooked up and the gauge worked fine (gauge read 180, water was approximately 180). So, all of my components, original and replacement all continue to work fine.

So here's the problem. The sensor doesn't actually enter the fluid flow in the T fitting. I used a 1/4" T fitting with a brass bushing on the top of the T to accommodate the threads of the sensor. The issue is the sensor is still slightly recessed into the cavity within the T and fluid must not be coming across it, or at least, just barely since I do get a reading but an inaccurate/low reading.

I tried "bleeding" it assuming there was an air pocket which only slightly helped and only temporary.

I'm in the process of trying to figure out something else. The next size down fitting would be an 1/8" T but that makes the sensor almost bottom out and is blocking the flow of the fluid pretty good.

Again, what is so damn frustrating is that I was using this exact same setup for over a year and half with NO issues. All of a sudden now, that setup isn't working. I did try pivoting the T fitting in every different direction (up, down, sideways) to see if that would fix it but no dice.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make this all work....again.

 

[mtbtim]

Update on this:

Finally had some time to work on this problem. To make a super long story short(ish), I tried diagnosing this in every way possible (except the final way which I should have done to begin with).

I thought for sure it was some kind of electrical problem but after swapping out new sensors, gauges, wiring harness to the gauge and all wires involved, it looks like the problem is hydraulic.

For whatever reason, fluid is not properly flowing past the sensor in the brass T fitting. How the hell it did for over a year and half is mind blowing to me because it worked fine all that time. All of a sudden now, I'll get a reading but a low reading (confirmed several ways).

I ended up boiling some water in a cup (like someone suggested but I was too dumb to actually try it) and putting the sensor in it while it was hooked up and the gauge worked fine (gauge read 180, water was approximately 180). So, all of my components, original and replacement all continue to work fine.

So here's the problem. The sensor doesn't actually enter the fluid flow in the T fitting. I used a 1/4" T fitting with a brass bushing on the top of the T to accommodate the threads of the sensor. The issue is the sensor is still slightly recessed into the cavity within the T and fluid must not be coming across it, or at least, just barely since I do get a reading but an inaccurate/low reading.

I tried "bleeding" it assuming there was an air pocket which only slightly helped and only temporary.

I'm in the process of trying to figure out something else. The next size down fitting would be an 1/8" T but that makes the sensor almost bottom out and is blocking the flow of the fluid pretty good.

Again, what is so damn frustrating is that I was using this exact same setup for over a year and half with NO issues. All of a sudden now, that setup isn't working. I did try pivoting the T fitting in every different direction (up, down, sideways) to see if that would fix it but no dice.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make this all work....again.

Your problem is interesting and I'm wondering if the same thing is going to happen to me at some point. I'm also using a 1/4" brass tee with a 1/4 x 1/8" bushing for the temp gauge sensor to connect to the tee.

At first, I used teflon paste instead of teflon tape to make the connections leak-free. After driving for a little while, I noticed I was leaking from one of the barbed fitting connections to the tee. So, I pulled both fittings off and went to teflon tape instead. The brass bushing to the tee connection wasn't leaking and neither was the sensor connection to the bushing so I left those alone. Here's what I'm thinking: You used teflon tape instead of teflon paste. With the paste, you can tighten the bushing and sensor further into the tee as opposed to teflon tape depending on how many wraps you used on the threads. If I'm right and you used teflon tape, disassemble the bushing and sensor from the tee and reassemble with teflon paste. That should allow the sensor to protrude further and into the stream of the fluid.

 

[thegipper]

Your problem is interesting and I'm wondering if the same thing is going to happen to me at some point. I'm also using a 1/4" brass tee with a 1/4 x 1/8" bushing for the temp gauge sensor to connect to the tee.

At first, I used teflon paste instead of teflon tape to make the connections leak-free. After driving for a little while, I noticed I was leaking from one of the barbed fitting connections to the tee. So, I pulled both fittings off and went to teflon tape instead. The brass bushing to the tee connection wasn't leaking and neither was the sensor connection to the bushing so I left those alone. Here's what I'm thinking: You used teflon tape instead of teflon paste. With the paste, you can tighten the bushing and sensor further into the tee as opposed to teflon tape depending on how many wraps you used on the threads. If I'm right and you used teflon tape, disassemble the bushing and sensor from the tee and reassemble with teflon paste. That should allow the sensor to protrude further and into the stream of the fluid.

Thanks for the reply Tim. I actually have tried both paste and tape. Neither changes how far down the sensor can screw into the bushing. I essentially have the exact same setup you have as seen in your video but with one difference.

The 1/4" to 1/8" bushing I used has a "hex collar" on the top instead of the straight threads (outer and inner) like you used. I am trying to find a bushing exactly like yours because I believe it will allow the sensor to screw in further and put the temp probe into the pathway of the fluid. You obviously do not want it blocking it but it needs to be partially in the path of the fluid otherwise an air pocket develops and you get inaccurate/low readings. Did you happen to look through the fluid passage on your setup to see where the probe was? If so, could you share that info?

What is so weird is my original setup worked for nearly two years and all of a sudden it doesn't anymore.

Right now, my sensor does not protrude into the path of the liquid at all. It is slightly recessed into the channel where the bushing is. Fluid must just be pushing past the very tip of it giving me a false/low reading.

I bought a 1/8" brass T fitting but that allows the sensor to nearly bottom out in the fluid channel and will definitely effect fluid flow. The only other option with the 1/8" T fitting is to install the sensor not on the perpendicular leg, but where you would normally install one of the barbed fittings. This would require the fluid to make a 90 degree turn but it would completely immerse the sensor in flowing fluid.

I did some reading on how the flow of fluids are effected by 90 degree turns in pipes and the loss was very minimal. The article used calibrated equipment and noted the flow lost to a single 90 degree bend was less than 5%.

The only other problem with setup I can see is finding an 3/8" barbed to 1/8" fitting. The largest I can find locally is 5/16" barbed to 1/8" which is in the picture in the following post.

The other option would be to have my work water jet a chunk of aluminum and make my own "block" that perfectly puts the sensor lets say half way into the stream of fluid.

I can't believe what a pain in the ass this has become...

 

[thegipper]

[MENTION=120071]mtbtim[/MENTION]

Here is the 1/8 T fitting that doesn't require a bushing.

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[thegipper]

This seems like it would block the flow more than it having to make the 90 degree turn?

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[thegipper]

Well I'm officially over it.

Hooked up my new T fitting which puts the probe directly in the path of the fluid and it's still reading too low.

what a total waste of time and money.

#facepalm

 

[Wedgy]

Do you think it could have an air bubble or something ?

 

[theesotericone]

Well I'm officially over it.

Hooked up my new T fitting which puts the probe directly in the path of the fluid and it's still reading too low.

what a total waste of time and money.

#facepalm

Go back to your old 1/4" tee with 1/4 x 1/8 bushing. Having the probe that deep is gonna cut down on flow.

I know GS has a ground that returns to the wiring. Auto Meter doesn't so you have to ground the tee using a clamp around the tee then grounding to frame or fuse box in my case. Have you tried grounding the unit that way?

If you think air might be an issue( I don't) remove the tranny dipstick and drive around the block making sure to cycle all gears a few times. That will bleed an auto trans.

I'm sorry your frustrated man but I would really like to see you get this taken care of.