Temp gauge stopped working out of nowhere, what's wrong ?
09-06-13, 06:33 PM
#1
Temp gauge stopped working out of nowhere, what's wrong ?
So today my temp gauge stopped working out of nowhere after I used electrical cleaner to clean off dirty contacts on my ecu connectors and the connectors that go to it on the ecu, and disconnecting my abs computer.
I've checked for the sensor wiring to be connected, even made it tighter incase of a weak connection.
What could be wrong , did my temp gauge just decide to take a crap and never work again ?
Any help is appreciated.
I've checked for the sensor wiring to be connected, even made it tighter incase of a weak connection.
What could be wrong , did my temp gauge just decide to take a crap and never work again ?
Any help is appreciated.
09-06-13, 06:48 PM
#2
The Temp Gauge in the gauge cluster has nothing to do w/the ECU. The Yellow/White wire from the sensor runs to two intermediate connectors before arriving at the back of the gauge cluster. If you were to remove the wire connector from the sensor and place a ground on it and w/key to on the gauge needle should climb to the top of the range indicating the gauge itself is good. If this were the case then the sensor or connection is poor.
And you only ground the sensor wire briefly to check the operational condition of the gauge. Grounding the wire too long will damage the gauge.
And you only ground the sensor wire briefly to check the operational condition of the gauge. Grounding the wire too long will damage the gauge.
Last edited by satch; 09-06-13 at 06:55 PM.
09-06-13, 06:51 PM
#3
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^and if not, there is a broken wire between the sensor and the gauge. Probably at the plug to the sensor. 15 years of heat does make wiring get pretty toasty brittle.
09-06-13, 07:12 PM
#4
I'll check it by grounding it, I did check earlier and the gauge didn't climb at all, but this was before grounding a wire near the ecu I left ungrounded after disconnecting the abs unit, i regrounded it to one of the mounting bolts for the ecu.
My friend said I could have messed up the wire going to it because it comes through near the ecu harness, which I was messing with earlier today...tommorow I plan on doing a resitance check on the connector going to the gauge cluster for it , on a side not the oil pressure gauge works fine, fuel gauge doesn't work either ( but it didnt work with a different set of gauges either, im thinking its wiring or the fuel sending unit).
Also, I noticed when I was idling my car tonight with the lights on that when I hit the brake pedal the cars gauges dim and the idle will drop considerably if i continuously hit them, and the idle will go lean according to my wideband , this problem I don't know if it's related but I never noticed the car having this problem before today.
Coincidentally the dirtiest of the ecu connectors I cleaned today was a ground according to the pinout, you'd think it would give the car less problems instead of creating more.
edit - also the wiring at the sensor looks fine, like i said everything was working fine, the car hasn't even been seeing any road time recently, its just been getting worked on in the drive way, i start it up every few days and the last time before today everything was fine
My friend said I could have messed up the wire going to it because it comes through near the ecu harness, which I was messing with earlier today...tommorow I plan on doing a resitance check on the connector going to the gauge cluster for it , on a side not the oil pressure gauge works fine, fuel gauge doesn't work either ( but it didnt work with a different set of gauges either, im thinking its wiring or the fuel sending unit).
Also, I noticed when I was idling my car tonight with the lights on that when I hit the brake pedal the cars gauges dim and the idle will drop considerably if i continuously hit them, and the idle will go lean according to my wideband , this problem I don't know if it's related but I never noticed the car having this problem before today.
Coincidentally the dirtiest of the ecu connectors I cleaned today was a ground according to the pinout, you'd think it would give the car less problems instead of creating more.
edit - also the wiring at the sensor looks fine, like i said everything was working fine, the car hasn't even been seeing any road time recently, its just been getting worked on in the drive way, i start it up every few days and the last time before today everything was fine
09-06-13, 07:31 PM
#5
This gauge wire runs to FEM-01 which is near the ECU but it absolutely does not run the the ECU itself. There are two other temp sensors which do but definitely not the sensor that is connected to the gauge.
When you depress the brake it causes a lot of amps to power the brake lights which can cause other electrical circuits to act weak in nature. A better charging/wiring system would solve this problem.
When you depress the brake it causes a lot of amps to power the brake lights which can cause other electrical circuits to act weak in nature. A better charging/wiring system would solve this problem.
09-06-13, 07:51 PM
#6
This gauge wire runs to FEM-01 which is near the ECU but it absolutely does not run the the ECU itself. There are two other temp sensors which do but definitely not the sensor that is connected to the gauge.
When you depress the brake it causes a lot of amps to power the brake lights which can cause other electrical circuits to act weak in nature. A better charging/wiring system would solve this problem.
When you depress the brake it causes a lot of amps to power the brake lights which can cause other electrical circuits to act weak in nature. A better charging/wiring system would solve this problem.
I hope.to fix it soon, just seems so weird for it.to stop working.
09-06-13, 10:24 PM
#11
This is why I should just get a good aftermarket gauge, stock sucks.
Assuming I do fix it , I still want an aftermarket gauge, that'll be next on my to buy list.
I bought a cheap one and I could never get it to work properly, that's what I get for a 25$ brand new gauge
Assuming I do fix it , I still want an aftermarket gauge, that'll be next on my to buy list.
I bought a cheap one and I could never get it to work properly, that's what I get for a 25$ brand new gauge
09-07-13, 03:52 PM
#12
well today I took it all apart and cleaned the connectors for the gauges and it works again, doesn't seem like it climbs that high but it works , I'm still planning on an after market gauge in the near future.
Also, unrelated..Ive been having a weird idle where it is a little loopy, and hot starts are difficult and it floods.
I adjusted my tps again to spec and then checked my spark plugs, the plugs turned out to be pretty oil/fuel covered , trailing was coated with a more thick coating while leading was still wet.
I'm going to replace the plugs later today and ill post my results.
Also, unrelated..Ive been having a weird idle where it is a little loopy, and hot starts are difficult and it floods.
I adjusted my tps again to spec and then checked my spark plugs, the plugs turned out to be pretty oil/fuel covered , trailing was coated with a more thick coating while leading was still wet.
I'm going to replace the plugs later today and ill post my results.
09-10-13, 12:32 PM
#18
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What he said. That wire gets brittle with all that oil that gets dripped on it, (oil changes) and all the heat its exposed to. I have a feeling there is a break in the wire somewhere close to the sensor. Gauges rarely fail, you could check the sensor resistance values predetermined temperatures and compare them with the specs in the fsm.
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