OnlyOnThurs

I don't know if my 7 has always done this but i have been noticing this lately....I have a 1982 GS.....Well during the day the temp gauge is always lower than midway..never a problem going higher than that DURNING THE DAY.....However at night its a different story....my temp gauge goes about 3/4 the way up (never over that limit...it just goes to there)...but it only happens at NIGHT??!?!! I'm like what the ****....this NEVER happens during daylight hours. I dont know if this is something i should worry about?? I know she is not overheating but i just find this strange....any ideas/comments......

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

My first thought was that you have night blindness, and drive harder at night because you can't se the popo's.

On a serious note, I worry when my temp guage gets to halfway.


The only thing I can think of is you have your lights on, putting a bigger load on the belts and they are slipping, thus not turning the water pump enough.

nevarmore

There was someone with a similar issue a few months back. The eventual conclust was that there was some sort of electrical or airflow issue related to the headlights or guage lights being on. Nothing too conclusive came of it, but it might give you some place to look.

OnlyOnThurs

hmm intresting thanks guys......

BlackFireRX7

I have a suggestion.... If your lights are on than your dashlights are on....Now work with me here, i'm not familar with how the dash is wired but that temp gauge may share a ground and or power source with the dash lights.....am I way off base here??? I am a little rusty

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Just for a test, drive with your lights on during the day. My guess is it will run the same as at night. Also try it with just the running lights on, no headlights.

In the meantime, check your belts.

Shamrock.James

easy to test, just drive around with your lights on for a day.

boog

i kind of noticed that too.....and sometimes after having a good warm up and the choke back in the temp gauge goes way past the halfway point for some reason and as i drive around a little longer it comes back down............ is that wierd? God bless

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

When was the last time you replaced the thermostat? I think your engine is getting hotter than normal.

OnlyOnThurs

Damn this is an old thread....................Ok well i am still having issures with this problem. I am stumped on this. It only runs hot with the lights on/or AC on. With lights or AC off she runs well below the half mark. Dammit its frsutratinhg cause i cannot find the source of this problem.

IanS

iTrader: (4)

Have your alt checked. Maybe it is going out and is causing a higher strain on your engine??? No idea really. Good luck.

dj55b

iTrader: (2)

Hey Onlyonthurs,

I dunno is you read my thread about my alternator problem earlie, but I think that once all the lights are on you have more resistance in the cuircit and it is giving actually a false reading of the temp guage. I have noticed that on mine I can guess exactly where the temp guage goes depending on how many volts it was reading, the lower the voltage the higher the temperature, when I hit around 10V my temperature would be at the barjust under the highest bar on the temp guage. Now i had something wrong with my electrical stuff that it would drop down to 10 volts. But if I turned left all the time it would fix it and I can watch as the voltage jumps back up to 13 or so the temperature guage would drop down to about half again.

Since that, I replaced my alternator to the bigger 2nd Gen alternator and now everything seems to be working fine. Since its supply quite a few more amps to the whole circuitry, voltage drop don't drop too much and you can notice your headlights being brighter.

OnlyOnThurs

Well thats the thing. i changed my alternator about 5 months ago and upgraded to a 2nd gen alternator (70 amp). But it did this same thing when i had the old alt as well. Hmm well im gonna keep trouble shooting.

t_g_farrell

iTrader: (1)

Did you check all your grounds ? A bad ground might cause a voltage drop and as dj has seen that causes the false temp gauge indication. I know if my car was running that hot on the temp gauge it would be spewing out steam and/or fluid aournd the hoses I think. Maybe hook a dvm up to the temp leads an see what the voltage looks like as you drive around.

trochoid

iTrader: (6)

Are you running a single pulley on the alt and no air Pump? If so, install a yoohoo belt or dual belt pulley on the alt.

Rogue_Wulff

Also check the main power wire, the smaller of the 2 that go to the positive battery terminal. I was fighting with a similar issue, and that wire was not making the greatest connection. After tightening that connection, my low voltage issue disappeared.
That wire is solely responsible for powering everything except the starter, along with keeping the alt power flowing into the system. It may appear to have a good connection, even though it does not.

boyee

iTrader: (3)

onlyonthurs, i learned from my friend that you should always run with the heater on. set it to the defroster or heat and push the temp setting all the way to hot. roll down your windows and push the vents to the side. check to see if your temp gauge goes down. it should. its good for your engine too. especially a rotary because heat kills us. good luck!

RustyRotary

iTrader: (2)

All it took to warp my housings was 5 minutes at 3/4 up the temp guage. If you've been driving it for months with it reading 3/4 regularly and your engine still even starts, I'm gonna have to say that it's definitely a false reading. Though what's making the reading I can't give much help on =P

OnlyOnThurs

Oh yeah i think your right that it is a false reading...cause as soon as i turn off my lights the temp gauge goes way down to below the middle mark. Well i am gonna try to see if i can get this problem figured out this weekend (WOOT LONG WEEKEND BECAUSE OF 4th of july!!).