my coolant temperature gauge doesnt work, and i would like to know where the sensors are located. and what sensors do i need? i was told there are 2 of them

 

There is only one water temp sending unit, located next to the oil pressure sending unit and below the oil filter pedestal.

 

ok, i just bought a multimeter. how do i use it to test if its the sensor or the wiring. please tell me step by step because i dont even know how to use this thing. id like to find out before i try to get into the cluster **** that is the wiring.

what do i set it to, what is a good reading, and where should i place the test leads

 

i have never seen a sensor fail so it's pretty much unlikely. the yellow wire is usually broken, loosely connected or disconnected. if the gauge is reading full hot with the key on then the wire is grounding out somewhere on the engine.

 

no, its below cold and doesnt read anything at all. it looked connected to me and it looked like the wires went into a metal tube, unless i was looking at the wrong thing.

 

Look at the oil filter pedestal.
below you will see a BELL shaped looking thing.That is the OIL pressure sender..NOT important but references where to look.

Right in front of that( towards Front of engine) ON the iron you will see a small Pencil like sensor screwed in the iron..THAT is the coolant temp sensor.
It should have a small Yellow wire connected to it.

 

yeah i found it. the wire is connected but it still doesnt work. mabey its disconnected somewhere else? thats why i want to use this multimeter but i have no idea how to read it and what setting to use.

 

You had a wiring issue before with your dash,So if the sensor is hooked up I would be more apt to look there.
is your oil gauge on your cluster working?

 

try grounding out that wire real quick and see what happens to your gauge. no movement = problem up stream.

next step for me would be to look around for rodent/wire damage and then check it from the sensor end to the cluster end for continuity to see if resistance goes to "infinite"

 

oil gauge works. this gauge didnt work before i had any problems with the dash

 

how do i ground the wire and what wire goes to the cluster? is it one of the wires that go through the side of the gauges or a bunch of them that connect at the back of it?

 

if it's an S4 and the needle is sitting below C then it means the wiring shorted to ground and damaged the gauge at some point.

the S5 needles do naturally sag, so that may not be true of an S5. but since you said "tube" connector and below C i could imagine it is a series 4 with a damaged gauge/wiring or an engine swap without all the wiring changes done.

 

just take a long piece of wire and attach it to the existing wire. now attach it to the negative terminal of the battery, just shove it in there real good or loosen a bolt and shove the wire under it and tighten it down.

then go back inside the car and DONT START IT but put the key in the last position before "start". if you have a clutch safety switch still in, as in you cant start it without putting in the clutch then just turn the key as far as it will go then let go of it.

 

yea its an s4. i think the gauge or the wiring is damaged. i cant remember if it is a t2 or if they just put a turbo on it and added t2 parts. or they did an engine swap with it, i dont remember. it doesnt have a turbo on it now though. so if the needle doesnt bounce when i ground it, do i need a new sensor?