Water temp sensor

I had/have the same problem... went through all the "cooling fixes" until I learned that I had a weird diode connected to my gauge; but also learned that my gauge just wasn't working correctly because the 220 gauge I put in works perfectly (once I removed the diode). I bought my 260 gauge new just last year either from PIM or Hall so I guess sometimes they just can be faulty.

Have you searched eBay for the out of production temperature sensors?

The 10 ohm resistor was added to lower the reading of the gauge, not to make it more accurate. Seems owners were not used to an actual temperature gauge, as opposed to an idiot light, and they unnecessarily were concerned and taking their cars in to fix the “problem”.

so the technician at the dealership would add the resistor and with the now lower gauge reading, the owner was happy and all was good. I think the philosophy behind the 260° gauge was to once again placate the owners, as the needle was now not nearly as close to the end of the range.

if you truly need to have an accurate reading, you need an aftermarket gauge and it’s matched sensor. If you want to keep the original look, there are Speedometer/gauge specialists who can place modern mechanisms in old housings with the old face plate.

at the end of it all, the temperature gauge just provides a number. As long as a Pantera is not boiling over when parked or audibly boiling water in the heads, there are no cooling issues.

An inaccurate temperature gauge is not useless. Once you become familiar with its normal readings under normal conditions, observing something out of the ordinary would be your cue that the cooling system needs a close inspection.

Larry

@Alan Hart posted:

I have a late 72 Pre L with a 260 deg temp gauge. I don’t think the gauge is reading correctly. I’ve read that the system was inaccurate at best from the factory, and used a 10ohm resistor. I read an article by Bill Taylor suggesting removing that resistor and the sensor and replacing the sensor with either of 2 sensors he determined worked well with the original gauge. Problem is that neither suggested sensor is available anymore. Any suggestions on how to restore accuracy to my original gauge?

Pantera Electronics Temperature Gauge Compensator works great with my 260-degree gauge and Standard Motor Products TS58 sending unit. In fact, all the Pantera Electronics products are great!

https://www.pantera-electronic...cal%20components.htm

My temp gauge after a drive and running a 180-degree thermostat

Ron

I have asked several experts about the water temperature gauge sensor mis match. From everything that I have heard, Veglia never made a matching sending unit for their water temperature gauge or oil pressure gauge. When De Tomaso was building the Pantera, it was less expensive to just put a Ford sending unit in, which tended to cause the water temperature gauge to read high. Ford later had a service update, which is where the in line resister came from. The Veglia oil pressure gauge sending unit is also a mis match, but on my car the gauge read low. There is a company in New Mexico that can remove the water temperature and oil pressure gauge internals and replace them with Stewart Warner internals. They also provide the matching Stewart Warner sending units. I have seen one car that it has been done on and the gauges look totally original and work perfectly.