NAA temperature gauge

Ran into another little problem with the ongoing repairs to my NAA, a working tractor, not a ahow machine. The temperature gauge appears to be original, wasn't working when I bought it several years ago. After some overheating issues caused by a debris-plugged radiator after mowing tall weeds, I figured I should spend a few bucks to get a new gauge. Bought a cheap one on eBay (probably the first mistake), when I tightened the hex-headed bushing into the block,the bulb section was loose, could wiggle it quite a bit, wouldn't hold water. Then I noticed that the original unit had a small brass funnel-shaped bushing at the angled shoulder where the bulb flares out, presumably where it should press against the recess in the head casting to make a water-tight seal. So I installed the little brass bushing, tightened the hex bushing as far as she would go, but the bulb is still loose, not as bad as it was before, but still won't hold water. When I hold up the new unit alongside the old one, the hex bushing and bulb shoulder look to be the same lengths, if anything, the new one looks to be longer from the end of the nex bushing to the bulb shoulder, looks like it should tighten and seal. Thinking of putting a small O-ring between the bulb and the brass bushing to lengthen the assembly.Any ideas?
(By the way, are all the new aftermarket gauges made by the same folks, probably in India? How can you tell if your vendor has a gauge that might be better quality than others? The original label had been cut off the box I received, so no idea who the maker is.)

I don't buy any new parts off ebay, except for complete carb kits. 15- 20 years ago, aftermarket parts were made in India and Brazil, maybe Turkey, until Cheena cornered the market on just about everything since. I'd also surmise there are very few aftermarket part manufacturers. The market just isn't that big to warrant a lot of competitors. TISCO is a big Ford Tractor supplier and some parts are still USA made, some aren't. I and many others buy our tractor parts at one or more of a handful of the most reliable parts suppliers like Dennis Carpenter, nnalert, or STEINER TRACTOR. Like this:



Tim *PloughNman* Daley(MI)
1953 1964 FORD TRACTOR TEMPERATURE GAUGE

some of those gauges has an extra fitting you need that will replace the one in your block and is big enough to screw your bulb in. you should be able to take your gauge and the fitting that goes into the block to Napa and they should have that fitting. the gauge itself should work fine. as far as I know there all made oversea now. I have checked parts stores and the ones I have found are all made overseas. there is a place in Mexico Missouri called walts tractors. there prices re inline with eBay. they do ship. the people there has excellent knowledge on these old for tractors. you might call them also and they probably will have that part. for anyone out there that has one of these old tractors and needs parts or information they really are good people that will help you. walts or Unger tractor Mexico mi. they have a good website.

I had noticed that most of the new gauges come with the 1/2" NPT pipe thread adapter bushing, but my tractor has the 5/8"-18 UNF port in the head, so no extra bushing is needed. Still have the problem that by visual length comparison, the new unit looks like it should seat tight enough to seal, just as the original did for decades.

(quoted from post at 10:10:42 10/18/18) I had noticed that most of the new gauges come with the 1/2" NPT pipe thread adapter bushing, but my tractor has the 5/8"-18 UNF port in the head, so no extra bushing is needed. Still have the problem that by visual length comparison, the new unit looks like it should seat tight enough to seal, just as the original did for decades.

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erify that there is a seat for your new sensor to seat against and not just a threaded hole.

Ya, I have bought from some of these other vendors when appropriate, but being Scots, I just wanted something "good enough" for the job, for the least money spent. (I have 8 older tractors,'43 through '56. My dad bought me a Ford 9N with plow when I was only 9 so I could help with the Spring plowing.) I am still faced with the problem that the new capillary bulb and bushing appear to be the same length as the original, but the bulb will not seat firmly in the head, it has a bit of wiggle to it, won't seal. Bought some small O-rings last evening, will add one of these between the bulb shoulder and the original funnel-shaped brass bushing, see if that helps.
My new unit definitely came from a vendor in India, it has the white numerals indicating the temperature zones. I noticed that there seem to be a least 2 other variations (different makers?), one has red-green-red zones, another has yellow-green-red zones.