.....erratic temp guage

[citheman2012]

I was driving my 95 limited to work about a 3 mile drive. I made it about half way there and my temp guage is pegged check guages light on so i limp it to work and toss a new thermostat at it. I started it up and noticed that my temp guage was still registering that the engine was at normal operating temp didnt think anything of it at first as the heat was already starting to blow warm. I drive less than a mile to 7eleven and its pegged again. I hit the check systems button on the center console and it gave the engine temp ok for the test so i drove it home. Im wondering if the readout in the console and the readout on the guage are coming from the 2 different sensors. Im gonna run to the junkyard a little later today after i hunt down a new lom. Ive had this EX for over a year and ive never come across any problems. Guess its just my turn for everything to break huh.

 

[marragtop]

How hot were the hoses when the temp was pegged? How does the overflow bottle look?

 

[citheman2012]

by hand the hoses felt warm i have already burped the system. i went out to start it up this morning and the temp guage was in the middle of the range on startup. i craked it up and once i started getting just a little bit of heat the gauge pegged out so i freaked out and killed it checked opened the radiator cap very slowly so that i didnt spill any coolant(still dripped a little). I found it to be topped off so i restarted it. the gauge started to drop slowly and then like a switch it dropped to the bottom of the range and worked perfectly.


Im still wondering what might be the problem. My best guess is that it is an electrical issue seeing as i didnt really change anything mechanical.


I am also wondering if my digital systems check in the computer is getting the signal from a different location. if so then i wont worry if the gauge starts acting up so long as i dont get the check engine temp light from the center console.

 

[matt987]

i had the EXACT problem with mine... i ended up changing the actual gauge in the dash and all is well..

 

[my98nnj]

The temp gauge uses a different sensor then the car's electronics.
If could be that sensor or as somebody mentioned, the gauge itself.

 

[citheman2012]

sweet finally a redundant system. if one goes i still have a backup system monitoring the temp. Just like a helicopter. YAY ford