Upon starting my TII, after 3 minutes idling, the water temp jumps from rest to maximum within 3 seconds. This cant be right as i can still touch the engine, its not even warm! I suspect the water temp sensor is faulty. I disconected the sender, the temp drop to zero. Any suggestion on this problem please?

 

Change the sending unit. They don't cost much.

 

While you are there, also put in a new thermostat.

 

Find the problem, then spend money (if necessary). Not the other way around. Troubleshooting 101.

It's very unlikely the sender is at fault. It sounds more like the wire has fallen off the sender and has grounded on something, causing a full-scale reading.

 

Reading 101

"I disconected the sender, the temp drop to zero"

This clearly indicates that the wire did not fall off, and is about as much troubleshooting that can be done. He has identified the issue now needs to buy the part.

The sending unit is no where near the thermostat, so I see no "while you are there" senario either

 

Thanks a lot guys. I took out the sender unit this afternoon. It was not easy to reach. I got a new sender, unfortunately while trying to install it, i accidently snap the top portion - the metal connector, as i was trying to tighten the sender. So i have to buy anoter one tommoro. This time i will have to do it in a much slower time.. hope it will work.. cheers

 

You're absolutely right, I paid more attention to the second post than the first. My bad.

 

If using an aftermarket gauge, what are normal operating temps for a t2 motor under both cruising and spirited driving?

 

180°F to 210°F is normal, 220°F is pushing it and over 250°F is fubar.

 

where is the coolant temp sensor located

 

 

sweet thanks

 

Hi Guys, this is interesting! I changed the temp sender twice with new ones, makes no difference. After one minute idling, the water temp moves from rest to max within 3-5 seconds. Take off the connector the temp drop back to zero. I now suppose that the problem is not the sender. Means the most probable fault is the gauge itself. Does that sound logic? Has anyone outhere came across this problem? I will be taking off the instrument panel next.

 

Did you make a TII swap by any chance?

 

Occasionally the gauge will go bad, you can swap one out of another cluster if you have one. I recently had the same issue with an oil pressure gauge.

 

That's the coolant sender gauge??? Geez, yep, that's what the manual says. Can someone tell me what the sensor is that connects either to the water pump or front housing right near the thermostat? i replaced that thinking that's why my temp sensor wasn't functioning :/ my aftermarket water temp sensor fits in that area, too, lol

 

i agree with what you are saying to an extent. if certain things havent been replaced in a while (like thermostat) theres no harm in replacing it before it fails and then you can rule that out as well

 

Thanks for the info, I just installed my new gauges and was curious.

 

It's the ECU's thermosensor. Do not remove it or replace it with anything else.

 

Interesting, what does this do, then? I didn't replace it with the water temp sensor, as it wouldn't really fit threading-wise, but I did replace it with a replacement part from Advance Auto Parts.

 

It's the sensor the ECU uses to determine the temp of the engine and adjust the A/F ratio accordingly. Very important.