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Thread: Where to mount Water temp sensor?

  1. #1
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    Where to mount Water temp sensor?

    I currently have an aftermarket temp sensor mounted to the head next to the factory water temp sensor. Max readings I'm getting there is 120F which has to be wrong since my oil temp is 220F at the same time on s M54B30.

    I've read that the most accurate water temp is at the head.
    Here is the location I mounted the sender. Stock on the right and aftermarket on the left.



    Should I just scrap this and move it to the upper radiator hose and use the adapter below?

    http://www.iemotorsport.com/bmw/2002...seadapter.html

  2. #2
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    Yes the "most accurate" reading would be at the cylinder head. But you could (much easier) tap into the upper rad hose coming out if the head. It will give you a very accurate temp, its simple and you know your reading will be correct.

    Quote Originally Posted by ///36M View Post
    F/I is a game you play with yourself. You convince yourself that with X amount of money and Y amount of time it will most definetly result in Z.
    Two-thirds of the way through X you are one-third of your way to Z. I will keep Y out of this, because the time it usually ends up taking is laughable.
    Welcome to the fun!

  3. #3
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    Get rid of the hard pipe for the TB coolant lines and put the sensor at the head. With the sensor at the TS housing if your TS gets stuck closed your screwed.
    Last edited by Brent 930; 07-04-2011 at 12:11 AM.

  4. #4
    techno550 is offline Senior Member Supporting Vendor
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    the temp is not accurate because there is no flow through the tee, so you are reading the temperature of the tee and not the coolant. The sensor needs to be *in* the head.

    Are there any "free" ports in the head (perhaps a throttle body heater line that is no longer in use). If not, the upper radiator hose would work reasonably well.
    Michael McCoy TRM

  5. #5
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    I used a fitting I purchased from Mr McCoy here ^ to measure temp directly in the head flow. It has a quick response and works great. If you are ok with deleting your throttle body lines then this is a great location.
    Joe

  6. #6
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    i used my TB heater lines for a turbo cooling lines. lol extended the hoses and ran the coolent through the 35R

    Quote Originally Posted by ///36M View Post
    F/I is a game you play with yourself. You convince yourself that with X amount of money and Y amount of time it will most definetly result in Z.
    Two-thirds of the way through X you are one-third of your way to Z. I will keep Y out of this, because the time it usually ends up taking is laughable.
    Welcome to the fun!

  7. #7
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    I, as well as a bunch of other guys, went the route of an aluminum t-stat housing tapped for the sender. Seems to be accurate to me, I run around 205 typically when I'm cruising with a 190 t-stat.
    '03 M3. Titanium Silver/Black. Bilstein PSS10, 19" VMR 710, UUC SSK, UUC LWT clutch/flywheel, UUC catback, ///Avin Avant2.
    '95 S50 TI, bad weather beater, tow rig. 210hp210tq @ the wheels

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by budget76 View Post
    I, as well as a bunch of other guys, went the route of an aluminum t-stat housing tapped for the sender. Seems to be accurate to me, I run around 205 typically when I'm cruising with a 190 t-stat.
    I would do the same but i have a plastic housing.

    The aftermarket aluminum one is unreliable.

  9. #9
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    OP, don't listen to clueless people. Put the sensor at the head.

  10. #10
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    I just got all the parts to mount my sensor in the cylinder head. I'll show you what I ended up with once the UPS guy shows up with my last couple parts!

    Mine is for the an m50 so I'm not sure if they'll be the same though.
    Andrew Elmore

  11. #11
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    I had an extra port in my radiator for the stock temp sensor that I didnt need so I am using that on my LS1 build. Totally useless until the thermostat opens but all good from there and dead simple.

    Mark

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by phamine View Post
    I would do the same but i have a plastic housing.

    The aftermarket aluminum one is unreliable.
    Can you elaborate why it's unreliable? I'd like to learn something, never heard of this before.
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  13. #13
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    The AL housing is perfectly reliable as long as the casting is good to start with. There are rumors of high porosity castings floating around.
    - Ian
    2000 M Coupe, stripped and DE prepped

    46mm wheel bearing socket for rent - $30 deposit + $10 fee. PM for details.

  14. #14
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    http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...uminum+housing

    The housing is reliable. The thermostat itself is not. On the E46, the thermostat comes with the housing. I have not read of anyone using an OEM thermostat in place of this aftermarket one.

    Again, this only applies to E46s.

  15. #15
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    I have had about 4 aluminum thermo housings. All were poorly cast. I cleaned them up with a dremel. Two did not seal to the front cover so I had to remove and seal them with gasket maker. Fresh gaskets and thermo seals were used in all cases. I no longer see any benefit to the aluminum housings. I think the plastic ones flow better because they are smoother and they seal better to the engine and they last long enough.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr Estoril View Post
    I used a fitting I purchased from Mr McCoy here ^ to measure temp directly in the head flow. It has a quick response and works great. If you are ok with deleting your throttle body lines then this is a great location.
    I made my own adapter for the head, but it wasn't perfect. I now have the TRM piece, which is very well made. Actually, I purchased 2 to give one to another Spec3 racer.

  17. #17
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    1. Don't listen to everyone else as they are giving you e36 advice and you have an e46.
    2. Put it in the upper radiator hose as you are not getting an accurate reading. The water temp should be around 210 when the thermostat opens.
    3. The other option is buy an AIM dash and it'll read the water temp through the ECU (what the ECU sees). Plus you'll get a host of other items.
    4. Google "OBD II Dash". There are a few companies that make a dash that plugs right into your OBDII port. Then you can pull plenty of data off of that without having any extra gauges. Plus you can use it in other cars.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by dbgeek View Post
    I now have the TRM piece, which is very well made. Actually, I purchased 2 to give one to another Spec3 racer.
    I use the TRM as well. Highly recommended.

  19. #19
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    Sorry to dig up a post from the past, but I have the TRM unit as well and am having a difficult time finding a sender that works in the fitting. I have been trying various VDO senders but the taper in the adapter doesn't allow for any of the senders I have seen from VDO.

    I would appreciate it if anybody could post a link to a sender they are using.
    1997 BMW M3/4 Cosmos Black Luxury Package 437whp 378 ft/lbs torque Dyno Dynamics Dyno
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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim M3 View Post
    Sorry to dig up a post from the past, but I have the TRM unit as well and am having a difficult time finding a sender that works in the fitting. I have been trying various VDO senders but the taper in the adapter doesn't allow for any of the senders I have seen from VDO.

    I would appreciate it if anybody could post a link to a sender they are using.
    Not all sender units are built the same, what I had to do sometimes is to run a drill bit thru the adapter to make sure I get the clearance that I need to screw the sender unit all the way in.

    Use a caliper to measure the O.D. of the sender unit and find the right size drill bit, keep in mind that you need 100's of an inch to make it fit.

    Rafa,
    BMW-PC F80 M3 HotLapFormula 1000 Video │ 3 Time NASA-SE GTS2 Champ │ TRM Stg.2, Coilovers & Tuning │ Racing Videos[/CENTER]

  21. #21
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    I have mine in the upper rad hose. A side benefit of having it there is you immediately know if you lose your coolant because the temp drops to around 100-120 when it is measuring air temp rather than water. I lost a hose at Road Atl because of overpressurization and I was able to pull off track right when it happened. If you pull temp from the head you have to have another light for coolant pressure.

  22. #22
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    Whre to put the sender unit?

    Bringing this back alive.

    Anyone has precise location where we can put the sender in the T-stat housing. I found this pic, which looks like the sender it is placed in the flow of the upper radiator hose (NOT in the direction of the thermostat opening).

    housing4.JPG

    This is kind of silly questions, I guess I'm wondering what the coolant flow in and out of the engine is. Based on the pic above, the upper radiator hose would carry the "hot" coolant goes in the radiator but If I understand how the thermostat works, the thermostat sensing part is in the engine head, which in this case in the flow path of the lower radiator hose NOT the upper radiator hose. UNLESS there is an opening/by pass on the block where the hot coolant goes to the thermostat side of the housing and activates it when it reaches certain temperature and retracts the thermostat open to allow the cold coolant from the radiator to go to the engine.

    Which diagram is it?
    This
    IMG_5674.JPG
    or This
    IMG_5673.JPG

    Thanks
    Last edited by Genes1s; 03-22-2019 at 01:39 PM.
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