- Water Temperature Gauge Sender Leak Repair
By Kevin Jewell
Almost everyone with an aluminum manifold has had problems with the Tiger water temperature gauge sender unit. The sender has metric threads and the manifold has a US pipe thread pattern.
On the original cast iron manifolds, this would work ok with the use of a small amount of thread sealer. However, with the aluminum manifold, after a few removals, the threads in the manifold start to deteriorate and soon you have leakage of coolant appearing on top of the block. I have seen all sorts of fixes: goops of black RTV, huge wads of Teflon tape, 0 rings, etc.
I have now seen three leaks fixed using Locktite Form-A-Thread stripped thread repair. There is no need to remove the manifold to make this repair. Simply remove the sending unit with a wrench. Thoroughly clean the threads in the manifold, then coat the sending unit with the furnished release agent. With a screwdriver or wood spatula, butter the threads in the manifold with the epoxy in the kit. Screw in the sending unit and let set for about one hour.
After the epoxy sets, remove the sending unit and use the normal two wraps of Teflon tape. You should now have a good seal.
One final word of caution – make this repair on a cool engine. If the engine
Almost everyone with an aluminum manifold has had problems with the Tiger water temperature gauge sender unit. The sender has metric threads and the manifold has a US pipe thread pattern.
On the original cast iron manifolds, this would work ok with the use of a small amount of thread sealer. However, with the aluminum manifold, after a few removals, the threads in the manifold start to deteriorate and soon you have leakage of coolant appearing on top of the block. I have seen all sorts of fixes: goops of black RTV, huge wads of Teflon tape, 0 rings, etc.
I have now seen three leaks fixed using Locktite Form-A-Thread stripped thread repair. There is no need to remove the manifold to make this repair. Simply remove the sending unit with a wrench. Thoroughly clean the threads in the manifold, then coat the sending unit with the furnished release agent. With a screwdriver or wood spatula, butter the threads in the manifold with the epoxy in the kit. Screw in the sending unit and let set for about one hour.
After the epoxy sets, remove the sending unit and use the normal two wraps of Teflon tape. You should now have a good seal.
One final word of caution – make this repair on a cool engine. If the engine
