can anyone start me off in the right direction??? is the gauge bad??? temp sensor??? help me out please

The odds are the sending unit is bad/maybe unplugged.

The gauge should peg to max during crank (starting the engine). If it is not doing that, the gauge has 'kicked the bucket' or, no longer has power going to it.

Removing the wire from the sender (green single wire on drivers side head) and grounding it should max the gauge (key on). If the gauge maxes, the sender is bad.

That is really all there is to the gauge circuit.

Kool, thanks for the info....

the gauge is pegged to beyond the hottest mark regardless if the key is on or not...

It is probably stuck on the edge of the face then. I got a cluster from the junkyard like that before. It would usually free itself with the key on and a light bump with the hand. Eventually that trick quit working.

What I did was, take the trim bezel and lens off the gauges and physically move the needle off the edge. I ended up putting a little bit more a a bend on the lip (of the gauge face) with some needle nose pliers to solve the issue. A few test 'starts', the gauge will ground before the starter turns, and reassemble. All was fine until the rest of the car fell apart around it.

That may or, may not help.

I have the same problem! How do u take the gauge out? Do you have to remove the whole dash?

You don't have to remove the gauge to fix the problem.

To remove the gauge though, the entire cluster does have to be removed as it is fastened from the back side. The dash itself does not have to be taken apart or removed though.

That's funny...I had the same problem and I had to remove the gauge face and bend the metal a bit or else it would get stuck each time I started the car...very wierd huh???

what if its a digital dashboard? 88 gta

On a Camaro, at least 82-89, with the exception of the speedo head, the gauges are plug and play from the front of the cluster. Remove the plastic bezel, the metal bezel and lense and all gauges are exposed. Remove a couple of screws and pull the gauge out. Push a new one in and button up.

JamesC

My gauge is acting the same way. But for good reason, there is no wire or sensor in the head. So what i did was buy a new temp sensor switch, and I got 2 alligator clips. I attached on end of the clip to the body of the switch and the other to a good ground source. I then attached the other alligator clip to the male terminal of the temp switch and attached it to what I believe is the wire lead to the gauge. I turned on the IROC and the neeedle stayed MAXED out. I turned off the IROC and it still stayed maxed out. 5 minutes later I came out with a thermos filled with hot boiling water. I turned on the IROC and poured the hot water on the sensor. I checked the gauge and it was still pegged out. Im out of options here.