Water temp sender issues

xj220

Founding Member
Sep 15, 2000
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I finally removed the water temp sender unit (coolant drain was an adventure in itself, looks like I killed a Ninja Turtle on my garage floor). Now I know why I was getting a slight leak from there: the threads are a different size from the intake manifold. We had a shop do some work on the Stang and last minute had them install a new sender unit. Looking at the threads of the intake manifold, they look damaged and I am at a loss of what to do. I don't want them touching my car after this (it looks like the unit was tightened down in an effort to make it work even though it's obvious it wouldn't). I was thinking of using some liquid gasket maker and apply it to the threads and screw it back in for now. The leak wasn't terrible before and that should take care of it until I rebuild the engine years from now. I know some people use an adapter, but I think the threads are beyond that now and I'm not going to tap it. Any suggestions appreciated.
 
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Suggestions?
Pictures, a friend or 2 (the bigger the better) to go with you as witnesses when you ask the owner why they put/forced the wrong part into your car and what he intends to do to remedy the damage caused by it. After he gives a lame excuse or tells you to go "love" yourself, go to small claims court, contact the BBB and/or get a lawyer.
HTH,
Gene
 
Here's the issue, the Stang is my daily driver for one more week and the shop is about an hour and a half away (it's normally at my parents house closer to the shop but I grabbed it for a couple weeks for fun). After looking at it, the threads don't look completely destroyed, but here's some pics for your viewing pleasure.
 

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Those threads don't look bad at all. Ford used an adaptor on the later EFI intake manifolds to get the coolant sensor in there so there is no reason you should be affraid of an adaptor.

The threads look just fine down lower. Run a cleanup tap on the threads to fix the munched ones and use some teflon tape when you put it all together.
 
Just remember that the unthreaded/sensing probe end needs to be in the path of the water flow for it to work right. Adapters seem to cover the end that needs to be in the water. I did use an adapter but I modified it to allow the sender to protrude into the water flow.:nice:
 
I can't readily tell from the pictures, but if that's an aluminum intake you could try cranking a steel pipe plug in/ out several times if you're reluctant to use a tap. May just smush 'em back in shape well enough to seal up. Agreed - threads up top look more mangled than the lower stuff. Just make sure the plug (or tap) bites in square when you get it started.

Funnel
 
Thanks for the help guys, I ended up using some Permatex liquid gasket on the threads and put it back in. No leaks over the last couple of days so I think I'm in the clear. My goal is to totally redo the engine, so it's more of a quick fix to last in the time being.