I decided to get the autometer electrical guages for my 4gen vtec, I want an accurate reading of the temp.. I've read other posts about using a t-fitting, but I dont know if I want to do that. Plus, I pulled out the old sensor and went to put in the autometer one, but it didnt fit. it was close, but the threads didnt match up. Do I need to buy the autometer 3/8 fitting that they suggest in the directions or should I have it tapped so that I can do it that way? How hard is it to do that? I am really lost. Thanks!

 

hehehe dont use stock ones place. then your guage on dash willnt work and that will kinda look weird. tap somewhere else. mabe on water chute or someting... anyone else i wanna see too.

 

how hard is it to tap in and what do i need?

 

im not saying to it there for sure. ive seen alot of people take the upper radiator hose part off (on the head has 2 bolts) take that off and tap that. ive seen that many times. that would be very east. i reccomend if u dont know how to tap that u take it to a shop (automotove repair) and they can do it easy. bring the guage so they know what thred to tap. use some teflon tape too.

 

thanks I'll take it somewhere and see if they can do it tomorrow.

 

ok I'm a retard I meant to say that I had a mechanical gauge. This complicates things a lot, but I was able to get the sender through the firewall, wire it, and get it installed correctly in my gauge pod. Now I need a place to put it. Of course, with my luck the damn thing doesnt even reach over to the area where its supposed to be... so I'm now really frustrated. What should I do? I really dont want to go through the trouble of replacing it again..

 

You say the gauge is mechanical with that long metal tube. If so-it will not work on our cars in the stock location and you will not get as accurate a reading elsewhere either. My fabricator and I tried to use that version of the gauge and returned it. THe electric model has a sender that will screw into the port where your stock sender goes. Seems that in Honda's wisdom they actually used 1/8NPT for the fitting. You want the sensor in the water not outside of the flow path.
There have been several people who have taken the thermostat housing (2 bolt thing) and had that tapped and it works-just not the same temp reading as that from the block/head.

 

yea i think im just gonna return it.. i'd rather not do the t-fitting either.. maybe just get a voltmeter or something a little easier to install

 

Don't replace the stock senders. There's two. The one wire sender is for the sotck gauge and the two wire sender is used by the ECU. Use the top coolant neck and tap into it like others suggested. It's dead easy and it's right beside where the stock senders are so you get the same reading. If you look at the top gooseneck you'll see a port that looks like it's been filled in, they used to put a sender in this location and it's perfect for taping out.

You can see the big sender with the yellow wires going to it is taped in at the location you want:
http://www.higginstribe.com/gallery/...lant-temp2.jpg

 

ditto

 

My digital dash went out recently and I too had to install a autometer guage. The easiest thing my Mechanic and I found was to use the electric guage, and the stock sensor location. Also, we also used the stock sensor by getting a stock plug from a junk yard and wiring that to the guage. By using the stock sensor we avoided having to retap the stock sensor hole for the thread type the autometer came with. This is the easiest possible way to hook the guage up. Also, if you go this way you will need to wire in a resistor in the path to create a voltage divider for the new wire going to the autometer. The only other advice I have is what jc said above...the thermostat housing will not work if you try to put it there. Finally, if you go this route your stock guage will no longer work since you have to unplug it.
-mike-