Temp gauge?

[Arianna]

My tempeture gauge likes to go up and down at random. Why is this? Is it a sign of a radiator leak? Is it possesed? Do I need a new radiator or a priest?
Should I start with flushing the system or just replace the radiator?
Thanks,
Arianna

 

[Maniak]

A few things can cause problems like that.

One is loosing pressure in the cooling system... Off the top of my head I can think of a few things that would cause that.
Bad Radiator Cap
Crack in radiator
Loose Radiator hose
Bad Heater Core
Blown Head Gasket
Cracked Head
Low on water (leaking coolant from somewhere)

A sticking thermostat could also make the temp go up higher than it should

A bad fan clutch can make it so the temp goes up too. Normally you see it go up when you do something like get on a freeway, but then it cools off once your one the freeway.

~Mark

 

[ma96782]

Add to the above list:

Bad temp sender unit?
Loose sender wire connection?
Short?

You could test (the gauge) by........KOEO.........ground the sender wire..........it should, peg at the extreme high temp side.

As for the sender unit..........it's not that expensive, I recently replaced mine along with changing the anti-freeze and thermostat (195 degree) and now it reads steady btw N and o. Before, it was just hanging around the "cold side, line," and would barely move (except when going up a large hill/mountain).

Aloha, Mark


PS..........Radiator leak:

You'd see the pool under the vehicle.......or you'd be refilling it. IF you haven't done it in a while, "Why not........flush before going on?"

You could also, "pressure test" a radiator and cap............a well stocked radiator shop should have the equipment.

 

[MarksSC94]

Mine did the same as Marks. Mine wouldn't budge for a long time, up hill or down. I put in a new T-Stat and all is good. Mine does fluxuate some. It regularly moves from one side of "O" to the other and back. It just started doing this when it took the tranny coolent lines off it and use my external cooler. I am going to flush the rad, toss the fan and put in a nice electric for the rad and maybe a smaller one just for the cooler.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check my thread about flushing the cooling system: http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=162848

 

[FOrdazeXLT]

I have a 93 ford explorer XLT and it has had an interesting adventure of late. I had to have the clutch replaced, the air conditioner stoped functioning well very shortly after this service was performed. I then started having cooling issues as my temp gauge began to swim from near the "o" in normal all the way to near the " L" after running very cool all last summer (even in 100+ degree weather) this had been a large concern for me but i assumed it may be the taxed airconditioner overheating the engine so tried to run without a/c. It still heated up , but only under load , like up a mountain or , under heavy accelleration. So i decided it may be a radiator cap , replaced that and decided on a flush. I used the flush made by Prestone. at first the heater didnt seem to be heating after it ran for a few mins but then after i revved up the engine it heated all at once extremely hot, clogged or dirty maybe? anyway so i flushed it according to instructions, it ran seemingly very cool even with just the water in it. So i proceeded to refill the radiator and used some pre-mixed 50-50 radiator coolant well i got on the road today and overheated all the way to the red in just a mile or so. it was around 95 , but i had drove all last week in 100 + temps without once exceeding the temp limit. yet after the flush it heated and boiled over after just a short drive. I am concerned the fan may not be working, is there a surefire way to test a fan clutch? I was suposed to be camping this weekend and going off-roading but at this rate my off-roader may never make it up another mountain! Please help !!