EFI - Engine Coolant Temp Sensor

[70EB]

Background. 351W SEFI conversion using GT-40 lower and Cobra upper. I am putting together my lower intake before I mount it on the engine.

If I have the manifold in front of me there is a port near the Thermostat that is used to feed the heater. On the right side of the manifold in the port for the temp guage sender and the Air Temp Sensor.

Where do I place the ECT? The instruction sheet for the Ryan EFI Harness shows the connection on the pass side of the intake. (looking at website instructions as I do not have the harness yet)

The only other ports for coolant that are on the intake is on both sides in the rear that I was going to plug (instead of the rear cooling trick).

Which way do I go? i also do not have the coolant tubes that are found on the 5.0 EFI engines (thought about going this route to clean things up a little)

Thanks
Bill

 

[SaddleUp]

Background. 351W SEFI conversion using GT-40 lower and Cobra upper. I am putting together my lower intake before I mount it on the engine.

If I have the manifold in front of me there is a port near the Thermostat that is used to feed the heater. On the right side of the manifold in the port for the temp guage sender and the Air Temp Sensor.

Where do I place the ECT? The instruction sheet for the Ryan EFI Harness shows the connection on the pass side of the intake. (looking at website instructions as I do not have the harness yet)

The only other ports for coolant that are on the intake is on both sides in the rear that I was going to plug (instead of the rear cooling trick).

Which way do I go? i also do not have the coolant tubes that are found on the 5.0 EFI engines (thought about going this route to clean things up a little)

Thanks
Bill

I think the sensor you have in there now is the ECT rather than the ACT. ECT measures engine coolant temperature and ACT is the Air Charge Temperature. (air temperature inside the intake) If I recall right the Explorer Intake doesn't have the ACT sensor so it needs to be drilled to install one. Somewhere I saw a pic of one installed into the end of the intake.

 

[70EB]

Saddleup,

I have the 351W GT-40 lower. I do not have any sensors in there yet. I understand where the ACT goes (drivers side front, higher up on the lower intake) and the coolant guage sensor goes right below it on the driver's side.

When i look at the pass side front, I only have one port. It would seem that the ECT goes there but then I need to figure out how to get the coolant to flow back to the heater (stock engine has the fitting there in a carb setup)

I just looked at some photos of EFI setup and it seems as though the metal coolant tubes that mustangs have also has a port on them for the ECT. Guess I have to get them to be able to do both.

Thanks
Bill

 

[SaddleUp]

Saddleup,

I have the 351W GT-40 lower. I do not have any sensors in there yet. I understand where the ACT goes (drivers side front, higher up on the lower intake) and the coolant guage sensor goes right below it on the driver's side.

When i look at the pass side front, I only have one port. It would seem that the ECT goes there but then I need to figure out how to get the coolant to flow back to the heater (stock engine has the fitting there in a carb setup)

I just looked at some photos of EFI setup and it seems as though the metal coolant tubes that mustangs have also has a port on them for the ECT. Guess I have to get them to be able to do both.

Thanks
Bill

I think you can just pull that heater fitting out and put a T there with the ECT going down from the top. I think that's what SecondChance did on the 5.0 intake I gave him. I had previously robbed the fitting off it for my 5.8 intake.

 

[Broncobowsher]

Totally skipping the air temp deal and straightening up the coolant temp...

Gauge sender goes at the drivers side
Computer sender goes on a Tee on the passenger side. Other side of the Tee is the line to the heater. I have seen a nice looking Tee on one of the engines in the Wild Horses catalog. It is some factory Ford piece. I took the catalog to the local dealer and asked if they could find that part. We guessed at all kinds of applications. Never found an exact match and they were very pricy. I finally just went to the local ACE and made it out of brass fittings.

Key to remember is to keep the sensor as close to the manifold as possible. Most of the modern cars have full flow heaters, the Bronco uses the water shut off method. Brass is a good conductor of heat so a short run of it shouldn't cause any temperture reading flaws even with the heater off.

Remember to use paste instead of teflon tape. This isn't critical on the computer sender as it has it's own ground wire but the gauge uses the manifold as a ground and a heavy layer of teflon tape can act as an insulator. The threads can cut through the paste and make ground better.

 

[70EB]

Sounds good. i thought i would have to go that route. Just got back from some junkyards looking for the tubes. No Mustangs but a nice Lincoln with a 5.0. Did not have what I was looking for.

Sad thing is that we do not have any pick-n-pulls or U-Wrench it around here (that i know of) and kind of miss just walking around looking for stuff on my own. Great ideas creep up on you while you do this too ;D ;D

 

[COBlu77]

I had the same problem and ended up using a 1/2" NPT brass "T" in the hole right behind the thermostat. The local Autozone had a nipple for the heater hose with 1/2 npt male threads. I put the "T" on it's side with the heater hose parallel to the engine and the ECT straight up and down.

I looked everywhere for a Ford part. Many rumors about T-birds and such, but nothing panned out. The brass "T" is working well. Let me know if you want a picture.

 

[70EB]

A picture would be great as I am attempting to piece this together in my head.

The metal tubes that are on the Mustangs (Mustangs only, the Cougars, Crown Vic, etc had a different setup - looked in junkyards, just could not find a 5.0 Mustang) are called "Intake Heater Tube Assembly". Found the Ford Part# if interested - E6ZZ-9D424-B. Ford Parts counter wants $78 for it (criminal)

 

[COBlu77]

Here's a couple pictures of my ECT. Not pretty, but it works. You can see the $1.49 still marked on the "T".

 

[SaddleUp]

Here's a couple pictures of my ECT. Not pretty, but it works. You can see the $1.49 still marked on the "T".

That's essentially the same thing SecondChance did on the intake I gave him.