@COMMODOG

Something that may help in the future. The 7.3l does not actually have a coolant guage. Its a calculation the PCM does off of oil temp, engine load etc. They sell aftermarket guage kits but I have not seen on that actually connects to the dash guage. If you keep your 7.3l long enough you'll see like most of us its a PITA but Ford parts just work better with the powerstrokes lol.

 

The 7.3l does not actually have a coolant guage. [sic] Its a calculation the PCM does off of oil temp, engine load etc.

Where do you get this stuff from? Pure, 100%, made-up, gibberish.

The 7.3 most certainly DOES have a coolant temperature GAUGE (It's easy to find. Its in the instrument cluster right in front of the driver.), and the gauge has its own, dedicated sender.

 

Well, I think there's a little confusion here though...

As far as your Computer is concerned (the PCM), the Engine Temp comes from the EOT (Oil Temp) and is how it calculates everything to do with how Hot/Cold the engine is at any time.

But, there IS an ECT (Coolant Temp) sensor, that the PCM isn't even aware of, that drives the gauge in the cluster. We Strongly suggest here that you Not use AfterMarket sensors because of the low quality all the imported sensors seem to have today. This happens to be a pretty expensive sensor but,,, there's really no "savings" if they don't Work Right!

 

Whoa,,, Dave, havin' a Bad Day? Kinda Harsh...

Justin is very knowledgeable, contributes a Lot of information, and has help a Lot of people here! He made a minor mistake and confused relationship of the PCM and cluster for this truck. He not spreading "Pure, 100%, made-up, gibberish" that I've ever seen...

 

He does it a lot. Always has an answer, but seldom a solution.............

 

I agree, kinda harsh @DaveP. -- can we suspect the OP was getting the wrong sensor with the first couple of tries ? (more than one temp sensor on a 7.3 ? )

Does the 7.3 read directly (linear) from the sensor - or is the sensor resistance interpreted by the instrument cluster in ranges like the 6.0 system ?
I suspect the latter and that both gauges use a stepper motor to move the needle -- for sure on the 6.0 system

 

I think where the confusion is coming from is that the gauge has a sensor that reads only for the gauge -- the PCM does not use that one
The link you provided suggested that manual tranny trucks used a second sensor for the PCM -- auto tranny does not use this ?

I was wondering if the OP got the wrong sensor for the gauge the two times he mentioned -- would be easy todo if the parts guy was not savvy on the 7.3

 

I'll wait for Dave to clarify his thoughts on my answer because I can see how what I said could be considered not technically right esp if I didn't use the terms correctly but I've also been wrong a thousand plus times lol.

 

I'll put my foot in here - 95F here right now, so taking a break from putting up fence
What you said would have been correct for the 6.0 system -- several things affect the "temperature gauge" on that system -- and the gauge works in ranges, it is not linear to the actual temp
The 7.3 system is a one pony show -- but the gauge may still work in ranges, rather than in a linear fashion -- would need to test a truck with a variable resistor to find this out

That other temp sensor has me intrigued -- can it be used for the gauge by mistake is the question

 

Yes I should have clarified it has an acutal guage but how it functions in comparison to the sensor and PCM is where I just described it incorrectly for sure. I should have clarified what I meant to say vs how I actually said. But i'll still wait for Dave. I respect him and feel i'll continue to do so once he clarified his position too.