Hey All,

I recently purchased a 1986 B2000 with about 160k miles on it. The truck runs well but my temperature gauge has not worked since day 1. I live in Phoenix and it's just incredibly hot here during the summer, so I've been stressing not having a working gauge.

I decided to replace the temp sensor (this one) and went ahead and replaced the thermostat with a 180 degree Stant while I was in there. I pulled the old temp sensor and it turns out the top was broken off (pic below) which I guess is good news since it suggests I found the problem.



However, I now have the problem that the top of the old sender is stuck in the wire connector (pic below). I tried pulling on the exposed brass part with pliers but it doesn't want to budge. I didn't want to get too mean with it and break something before confirming that what I'm looking at is indeed the top of the old sensor and I'm not pulling on the connector itself. Am I okay to pull hard on the little brass piece sticking out of the connector? Or is that part of the connector itself? The sensor doesn't look like it has any threads and must just push on/pull off, right?


Sorry for the newbie questions, I'm new to this but having a lot of fun learning about the truck and getting in there. I've only ever owned new vehicles that I was terrified to wrench on. Been learning a ton from this forum. Pic of the truck below just for kicks. Thanks in advance!

 

Nice looking B2000! You have a gem there......while holding the connector body, grab the end of the broken temp sensor with a pair of pliers (just past the wire remnants) and rotate the pliers, back and forth, as you pull outward......the sensor tip end should ease out of the connector body then.

That temp wire gets pretty brittle also.

 

If you need to replace the connector end, a female electrical "bullet connector" will work.

 

Thank you! Been loving this little truck. I'll give that a try and report back.

 

Awesome, thank you! I was going to ask this.

 

I'm in Phoenix most of November-April; does your B2000 have working AC? It looks like you have the factory carburetor - stick with that as long as it works OK, and hope your emissions tests are all OK.

 

No AC unfortunately, it's been brutal this summer. Fortunately I don't commute in this truck and mostly make short trips. Roger that on the carb, seems to be working fine so I'll stick with it. I've got it registered in a no-emissions county for 5 years, but out of curiosity is it possible to pass emissions with the weber carb? Or is the emissions delete an automatic fail?

 

The emissions folks in Arizona (Maricopa and Pima counties, which test back to 1967 year) are NOT mechanics (they might think they are). Yes, I passed emissions with the Weber, failed first time because there were intake manifold ports that were capped off, and visible without the huge factory air cleaner housing covering them; so I routed vacuum hose from one port to another to cap them and then passed. If one does not have factory cruise control, power brakes, or automatic, the three ports for those would be capped from the factory ! Some have fabricated a cover over the Weber from the factory air cleaner assembly. Mostly the numbers from the tailpipes are what they are concerned about, pretty ridiculous considering that there are very few older vehicles still on the road here, despite lack of rust.

I spend half the year in Yavapai County now so no emissions, so registered here. Yes, my '88 Cab Plus has AC, still R-12.

You could also later look into Arizona emissions exemption as a historical/classic vehicle as 25 years old.

 

So.........were you able to get the broken end of the temp sensor out of your connector?

 

It wouldn't budge so I had to cut the whole female connector off and wire a new one in. Good news, though. I have a working gauge! The truck runs surprisingly cool, gets a bit above the 1/3 mark after about 15 minutes of city driving. Hopefully the gauge is accurate.

Thanks to you and Cusser for your help!