Coast Resorts Open Roads Forum: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

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Topic: How many of us are there? Owners of Dodge based RV's?

Posted By: fierystorm on 06/14/12 09:42am

Grats Leeann!

Now here's to hoping I figure out what's going on with my dashboard gauges [emoticon]

~Fiery
Aka Mike

Posted By: Jer&Ger on 06/14/12 09:44am

That's great Leeann. oldtrucker, I did finally get that darn plug out. A combination of different wrenches & muscle finally got it to budge a little [emoticon]

and from there it just took a little effort & time [emoticon]

(about 2 hrs.)

Jerry & Gerry, our pets (dogs), Byron, Coco
1976 Monaco, 440 ci. Dodge Sportsman chassis

Posted By: TreeSeeker on 06/14/12 11:11am

oldtrucker63 wrote:

A Steel plug in an Aluminum tank NOT Good, You might heat the plug and get it loose...

Actually, the plug needs to be cooled, not heated. Heating it will cause expansion and you need contraction. Heating the tank and cooling the plug would be the best.

You could cool the plug with a small piece of ice or even better, dry ice.

I would first soak the plug threads with PB Blaster--maybe overnight. PB Blaster works better than WD40 for this type of thing, IMHO.

Edited: After my post, I see that you got the plug out, but I think this clarification about heating and cooling may still be useful.

Posted By: fierystorm on 06/18/12 10:09am

Hey everyone [emoticon]

Update on my end... Spent my Saturday crawling around under my rig. Redid a bunch of grounds and, lo and behold, my Oil Pressure gauge is now responding! [emoticon]

No joy on my temperature or fuel gauge [emoticon]

. But I'm getting power to the temperature gauge (but no power at all to the fuel gauge) on my main board although it still doesn't register on the gauge itself.

Since I have no breaks and the fuses are good I'm assuming my coolant temperature sending unit has bit the dust and I'll be installing a new one this coming weekend.

But as to my fuel gauge. Grrr... argh... My line and grounds look good, and my fuel gauge has continuity (I'm hopeful that means it's still good) so all I can think of is that either my floats or the whole fuel sending unit is toast. Which means dropping the whole tank [emoticon]

not looking forward to that one. If anyone has any thoughts over whether it might be the floats/fuel sending unit or any other ideas I would really appreciate it!

Here's to hoping I get to enjoy the great weather we're having by getting on the road soon. Thanks all [emoticon]

Posted By: Griff in Fairbanks on 06/18/12 10:42am

fierystorm wrote:

Hey everyone [emoticon]

Since I have no breaks and the fuses are good I'm assuming my coolant temperature sending unit has bit the dust and I'll be installing a new one this coming weekend.

But as to my fuel gauge. Grrr... argh... My line and grounds look good, and my fuel gauge has continuity (I'm hopeful that means it's still good) so all I can think of is that either my floats or the whole fuel sending unit is toast. Which means dropping the whole tank [emoticon]

Disconnect the temp and fuel level sending units and put an ohmmeter, or multimeter on ohms setting, on them. (No current to them while doing so -- extraneous power will mess up the reading and possibly ruin the meter,)

Both sending units are variable resistors. The resistance put out by the senders varies based on changes in coolant temperature and fuel level.

The temperature sending unit is inexpensive and easy to replace. NO teflon tape or thread compound on the the unit!! Ground for the older senders like you have is through the block and tape or compound will insulate it from ground.

Depending on the vehicle, fuel level senders vary from zero to 75 ohms or zero to 240 ohms -- I can't recall off the top of my head what the range is for Mopar vehicles or whether the the resistance varied high to low or low to high with changing fuel level.

Make sure you have a good ground to the fuel level sender ... run a jumper for the mounting screw on the sender to the negative post on the battery and see if that changes the gauge behavior.

In addition to being a PITA to change, OEM fuel senders are difficult to find. If all the tests I suggested show the sender is bad, send me a PM -- I might have an old OEM sender laying around that you could have for the price of shipping.

Good luck.

1970 Explorer Class A on a 1969 Dodge M300 chassis with 318 cu. in. (split year)
1972 Executive Class A on a Dodge M375 chassis with 413 cu. in.
1973 Explorer Class A on a Dodge RM350 (R4) chassis with 318 engine & tranny from 1970 Explorer Class A

Posted By: fierystorm on 06/20/12 06:22pm

Hey Griff,

Thanks a lot for your advice and very kind offer! I'm going to deal with the fuel tank when I get an extra pair of hands this weekend.

But boy oh boy is the location of the temperature sending unit eluding me. I have two service manuals, both show different locations, both are wrong. The first shows it is right next to the thermostat housing, accessed through the hood. But short of two hoses next to the radiator hose, all I'm finding there is a 3 prong vacuum source nipple temp sensor for the EGR, and it's nothing like the replacement single prong replacement I picked up at NAPA, who told me the 3 prong I located is definitely not what I'm looking for.

The second book shows inside the doghouse on the front of the intake manifold. No joy. I've followed every wire I can in both areas and I'm lost [emoticon]

I know you have different models/years than I do, and sorry to ask, but do you happen to have any thoughts where it might be? I can't believe this little part is so hard to find.

Posted By: Griff in Fairbanks on 06/20/12 07:41pm

fierystorm wrote:

Hey Griff,

But boy oh boy is the location of the temperature sending unit eluding me. I have two service manuals, both show different locations, both are wrong. The first shows it is right next to the thermostat housing, accessed through the hood. But short of two hoses next to the radiator hose, all I'm finding there is a 3 prong vacuum source nipple temp sensor for the EGR, and it's nothing like the replacement single prong replacement I picked up at NAPA, who told me the 3 prong I located is definitely not what I'm looking for.

The second book shows inside the doghouse on the front of the intake manifold. No joy. I've followed every wire I can in both areas and I'm lost [emoticon]

I know you have different models/years than I do, and sorry to ask, but do you happen to have any thoughts where it might be? I can't believe this little part is so hard to find.

On a LA small block (273/318/340/360), it should be located next to the thermostat housing in the intake manifold next to the coolant bypass hose. (The coolant bypass hose is a short 1" diameter hose running from the water pump to the intake manifold.)

Note: I said, "LA small block." It may be different on the Magnum small block.

On a B/RB big block (350/360/383/400/413/426/440), it is on the front of the water pump housing between the water pump and alternator, behind the alternator bracket.

In both cases, it is located towards the front of the engine on the passenger side. It is small and hard to see.

Here is a picture of the temp sensor on a big block:
[image]

It's possible a previous owner upgraded to one of the newer sensors, which would look different. (Unlike older versus newer oil pressure sensors, I can't think of any reason for upgrading the temp sensor, other than they couldn't find a stock sensor.)

Posted By: fierystorm on 06/20/12 08:25pm

Hey Griff,

You rock!! [emoticon]

I found it right away based on your description and picture.

But, of course, there is a hiccup. Now I know why I couldn't find it before... I have a large 100 amp alternator on my Dodge. The bracket that holds it is much larger than the one in your picture, and my engine is about 1.5 inches away from the bracket, giving me only that much room. Plus my bracket has only a small opening at the top. I can get one finger to the wire but no way to remove it or the sensor without pulling the whole bracket, which means removing the alternator. Fun times [emoticon]

But thanks to you I'm on the right track and I know what to do. Thanks a lot, Griff! [emoticon]

Posted By: TreeSeeker on 06/21/12 08:45am

fireystorm,

Before you go to all that trouble to replace the temp sender, I would test it as per Griff's description. It might just be a bad wire or connection.

Posted By: fierystorm on 06/21/12 11:48am

Hey Treeseeker,

Going to try to do just that today. Not sure if I'll be able to clear the connector before it hits the bracket, but I'm hopeful some gentle work with some of the right tools will make it happen.

**Update**
Just got through testing the coolant temperature sensor/sender. That was quite the pain to work the connector off to test the unit. Definitely bit the dust. After the engine cools down in the morning I'll be trying to remove it without pulling the alternator.

Got to love the irony of it. I went from working on my rig to helping my father do something on his 2002 vehicle. Couldn't help but notice that his coolant temperature sensor/sender is right on top of his engine right as you open the hood, nice and easy to get to [emoticon]

* This post was edited 06/21/12 06:52pm by fierystorm *

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