Painless Temp Sending Unit Wiring Question

[NoNeck]

Maybe a really dumb question, but I am confused on a couple of wires that attach to the Temperature Sending Unit on the intake manifold.

The instructions from Painless show the following:

Grn/Blk 18 921 Temperature Sending Unit to Temperature Gauge
Green 18 983 Temperature Sending Unit to Temperature Light

I have a factory Temp Gauge, but I noticed there is a red idiot light that would indicate when the engine temperature is too hot.

Should I attach BOTH the Green/Black and the Green wires to the Temp Sender?

Thanks,
POP

[harpo231]

you may have to run green from gauge to light

[HO455]

The short answer is no. The second wire will likely will cause your guage to read incorrect The sensors for guages and lights are different. The guage is a resistor that changes its value in a controlled manner as it changes temperature. The light uses a switch that closes at a specific temperature. Both are grounding their indicators but in different ways. If you wanted to utilize the light you could install second sensor that is appropriate for the light and it should work. That being said I personally have never tried it on one of these trucks but I have done it on my Javelin. But that's a completely different beast.

PS it's not a dumb question!