Dany89

I was driving my 87 GTA and the tampgauge got to the red zone. i tunred off the car and waited a while but the rasivior didnt bubble and the car waws fine. im thinking their is something wrong with the gauge. i just repalced the fan switch, and the temperature switch, i also had the radiator flushed and just put in new antifreeze. The gauge goes to the red zone in in less than 10min, but like i said th car doesn't act "funny" nor does the antifreeeze boil in the resivior> waht could be tha prob???

henryd3

iTrader: (128)

If the temp sender for the gauge is one you just replaced, I'd say they gave you the wrong one

camaronewbie

Sender for the guage is in driver side head between #1 and #3 plugs.

Dany89

i bought the temp sender at autozone new, but i still have the same problem. COuld they have given me the wrong one

camaronewbie

They well could have. I always find my parts online first, then get part numbers to take to the store.

Dany89

U guys have any other suggestions of what could be wrong or how i can check what could be worng would really appriciate it

henryd3

iTrader: (128)

If your thermostat is not opening it could heat up too much, but that would take a while. Does it heat up initially, then the temp drops when the thermostat opens, and the upper radiator hose should start getting hot?

Midwest Muscle

It might not solve your problem, but I did experience this recently. My gauge seemed to be reading high, and I verified that by looking at the real temp directly at the radiator. When my coolant was 220, my guage was showing 240'ish.

I noticed my temp sensor (between 1 & 3) did not look like the OEM unit. So I replaced the temp switch using a known-good P/N. When I put the 'correct' one in, my gauge would show 260'ish at the same 220 reality.

So I put the 'incorrect' one back in. Apparently it has a different resistance threshold which would be reflected at the gauge. Can't be bothered to replace my gauge since +/- 10% isn't off the charts and I know the car is fine.

Suspect your gauge is out of whack. If it's working at all, you don't have a wiring problem. I'd start by putting in a new temp sensor which takes all of 15 minutes. If I knew the P/N on my 'incorrect' one that's in my car, I'd tell you!

Mike

Timmie

got another idea. ( drumrolls pls )
the gauge sender or the wire to it is bad.
of the wire hits the ground somewhere your temp gauge will go to the max. ( the lower the resistor in the sender the higher the temperature )

just fixed a problem like this with my oil sender. it would go from 80 psi to 0 psi for no apperent reason. engine didnt do weird and within a second it would stand back on 80 psi.
other sensor didnt fix it.
even with the connector off the sensor the gauge would start flipping from maximum to minimum.
put in another wire, and my car was happy again. just my 2 cents

Midwest Muscle

Timmie, it would definitely act like that if the wire was intermittently contacting Ground. The original poster seemed to suggest his gauge worked fine; starts at the bottom, rises as the coolant warms, but then keeps going into the red zone even though the car is not actually overheating. That leads me to believe his wiring is fine, and the issue is on either end of it ... Sensor or Gauge.