Has anybody had bad luck with new Cat replacement guages? I installed a new coolant temp guage with sender in my 5U D2 after overhaul. It worked fine the first time I ran it a week ago. I started it again today and the needle doesn't even move. No signs of air in the cooling system, I checked the air bleed valve on top of the pony and loosened the sender nut at the cylinder head and have coolant at both. No temperature variations anywhere on the engine block or cylinder head. It acts like the guage/sender assembly is bad. If this is the case would it be better to get a replacement from the auto parts store or try another from Cat?

Those Cat replacement gages are crap.
I use Stewart Warner replacements but not their bottom product line.

Quick test: pull the bulb out of the block and stick it into a boiling coffee pot. You know full well it's no good, this is just something to tell the parts guys when you take it back and tell them where to put it.

Thanks for the input, guys. It's a shame the new gauges are such poor quality.

Cat parts are guaranteed so take it back to them and demand a new one.

You know where they are probably made, China or Mexico. If you have your old large face temp gauge or an old smaller face gauge you might want to see how much it would cost to have it repaired. I have had all my old large face gauges for my 3J repaired by APT Instruments International. They do great work and have a quick turnaround time. The old addage"you get what you pay for" is more true now than ever.

I don't know if they would take this gauge back because I bought it about 3 months ago when I placed my last big parts order, although it wasn't out of the box until recently. I'll try though.

I'm afraid there isn't enough of the old gauge left to repair. The glass had been broken out years ago and the insides are totally gone, needle and all.

I once found a link to another site posted here that explained how a new bulb and tube could be soldered onto a water temp gauge. You freeze the bulb in salted ice while you make the switch, solder a very amall brass coupler between the new tube and a short stub of the old tube.

They didn't make any rash promises for accuracy. Still, you might be tempted to give it a try.

G'day Dozerman 51,

Do you have a before and after photo of your gauges that were repaired?

I just put a new CAT temperature gauge in my D6. It seems to be working just fine, though at this point it only has about 1 hour on it.