98 Ranger. Temperature gauge does not go down.

[Ranger XLT]

OK, I have a 98 Ranger XLT 4 cyl, only 23750 miles. I have replaced the temp sending unit (two wire plug) that goes to the gauge on the cluster. here's the problem. You drive the truck temp goes to normal opt temp, you turn truck off and the temp gauge does not go down. If I unplug the temp sending unit with truck running the gauge goes down. plug it back in and turn truck off it stays up. If I let truck cool down for several hours gauge is still up but when I turn ignition on gauge drops?????? ANY IDEAS

 

[BrooklynBay]

Welcome to this forum! I've moved your thread into the Ranger section. Check the resistance of the sending unit with an Ohmmeter.

 

[Ranger XLT]

Thankyou for quick reply. What should ohm's read? Do I check plug to send unit also?

thanks

 

[BrooklynBay]

The gauge will go into the hot zone as the resistance of the sensor decreases. Check the resistance of the sensor when it's cold, then compare it to when it's hot. It shouldn't be the same resistance hot & cold.

 

[nfazer]

What happened on my '96 Ranger, was that the actual temperature gauge broke - it acted that way for a while, and then dropped way down and would never go back up. What I ended up having to do was buy an instrument cluster off of Ebay, and instead of dealing with different odometer readings, etc. I just swapped out the section with the temp gauge and gas gauge into my existing cluster; it's been working fine for 6 months now.