My temp gauge no longer works. When I start the car it pegs way out to the 270 side then drops to 100 where it stays. If the car is off I find the needle moves slowly towards 270. When it was working it would somtimes give the temp, but it would intermittingly move between the temp and 100. Occasionally it would bounce around like it was "winding up" then quits the then starts again. I already put the wire on the sender.
Could the sender be bad or is the wire loose in the dash? How do I get to it? Is the sender in a coolant passage?

Thanks.

 

The guage is supposed to peg with start up. That's the self test function. The sender is in the coolant, you will have to drain down some to remove it. The guages are known to fail, but they usually get stuck at the top after you start. Could be a faulty sender, or an intermittent problem in the dash. Make sure the wire you put on is not burnt, as that is a common problem. I think I would try the sender first before ripping the instrument cluster out.

 

Thanks for the help.