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Temp meter going nuts

Tech Talk for Ford, Mazda, Daihatsu & Makes that currently dont have a home.

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Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:14 pm
Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Temp meter going nuts

Post by elgordomuygrande »

Hey guys, had this problem for a while. Since the heater did'nt work properly this winter I found out that the previous owner had messed with the heater hoses and installed some t-junctions and other hoses, don't know what he was thinking :?: Temp meter pointed 1/4. I took the mess out en installed some new hoses as they suppose to be installed. Now the meter points at max. Strange thing is the engine doesn't overheat, even at highway speeds. Have fitted another tempsender and another thermo, flushed the radiator but nothing seems to help, fluid levels are ok. Strange thing is that engine runs ok while the friggen meter going frenzy. replaced this with another meter and it's still not pointing right. Any ideas ??

Cheers, Ron

Edit: found corresponding pages in the rocky manual, hope they are the same
Last edited by elgordomuygrande on Mon Apr 25, 2005 10:27 pm, edited 1 time in total.
smokin' is bad, especially for your curtains

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F20 Resin Top, 2.5" lift , 31" Grabber AT's
Posts: 4760
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:04 am
Location: Adelaide

Post by murcod »

The temp sender operates like a variable resistor; so if the guage is reading full scale there's a good chance the wiring is at fault and you have an open circuit somewhere. Possibly you knocked something while doing the hoses?

Try using a multimeter and checking the resistance from the temp sensor to the guage.

Also check the sender body is earthed properly- this could cause the same symptoms.
David
Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:14 pm
Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Post by elgordomuygrande »

I haven't had time too look under the bonnet yet. Strange thing is that the gauge Is moving but the range it moves is on the upper scale. Highway 3/4 throttle gives a lower temp ( just below redline) than cruising or wheelin, so there is live :lol: .

When cheking resistance as you mentioned, should it be zero (considereing the tempsender is of a NTC type)?

cheers
smokin' is bad, especially for your curtains

----------------------------------------------------------
F20 Resin Top, 2.5" lift , 31" Grabber AT's
Posts: 4760
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:04 am
Location: Adelaide

Post by murcod »

Disconnect the sender and just check the wire from the sender to the guages- should be zero Ohms. Check the body of the sender is earthed too.

BTW the above assumes the sender is a single wire type?? If it isn't you'll have two wires to check and it won't be relying on the earth through the engine.
David
Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:14 pm
Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Post by elgordomuygrande »

murcod wrote:Disconnect the sender and just check the wire from the sender to the guages- should be zero Ohms. Check the body of the sender is earthed too.

BTW the above assumes the sender is a single wire type?? If it isn't you'll have two wires to check and it won't be relying on the earth through the engine.


Yep, single wire, checked wiring and ground, seems ok, so it must be the gauge,. will try to check that tonight.

Thanks
smokin' is bad, especially for your curtains

----------------------------------------------------------
F20 Resin Top, 2.5" lift , 31" Grabber AT's
Posts: 4760
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2002 6:04 am
Location: Adelaide

Post by murcod »

If you've got the Rocky manual (link to download in FAQ) then it should give resistance vs temp specs for the sender- so you could check that out with the multimeter too. Try measuring it at the sender and then at the back of the instrument cluster (with the guage unplugged) and see what you get.

It could also be a voltage supply problem at the guage end. ;)
David
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:39 am

Post by WIDE BOY »

suspect the instrument voltage regulater faulty,i had this in my rocky and both the temp and fuel gauges went full scale. it was mounted on the fuel gauge.
regards wide boy
Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Aug 17, 2004 6:14 pm
Location: The Hague, Netherlands

Post by elgordomuygrande »

Thanks guys for replies, I measured resistance of the wiring, seems ok, grounding on gauge and sender are also ok. gauge has 57 ohms and sender ranges 80 to 300 ohms. How is it possible that the gauge voltage is 5+ volts when it is max scale. prolly faulty instrument voltage regulator or gauge itself.

Wide Boy the regulator, is it inside the fuel gauge, i see nothing attached to it but has leading 5 wires to it (incl lightbulb).

Cheers
smokin' is bad, especially for your curtains

----------------------------------------------------------
F20 Resin Top, 2.5" lift , 31" Grabber AT's
Posts: 25
Joined: Sat Apr 23, 2005 10:39 am

Post by WIDE BOY »

my vehicle is a f80 petrol rocky and may have a different electrics to your vehicle. the instrument voltage regulater is mounted on the fuel gauge itself , i had to remove the instrument cluster then the cluster front panel to get it out ( lots of fun ) the regulater itself was a electro mechanical unit, a bi metalic strip with a heater wire wound around it. one of the heater wire connections had come of and the only cure was to replace the complete fuel gauge ( about $75 australian ) the symtoms it caused was both the temprature and fuel gauges to read full scale.
regards wide boy
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