My heater core in my Bird has been leaking for a little while now, not too bad, since there is still plenty of coolant in the resevoir. About an hour ago I was driving and then this very strong anti-freeze odor appeared. I thought the coolant just dumped out of the car. I then checked my temp gauge and it was at 100. Pulled into a gas station, popped the hood and checked the levels, all were fine. Started the car up and the gauge went to 260 as the car turned over then went back to 100.
I am going to change the core tonight, but what about the gauge? Could the sensor or sender be bad?

Thanks

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Zepher
'86 Pontiac Trans Am WS6, LG4 305, 5 Speed, CF DF Clutch,
Edelbrock 1406 Carb, Edelbrock Performer RPM 7101 Intake Manifold.
Edelbrock Open Element Air Cleaner: Flowmaster Exhaust, 160* Thermostat,
Grant GT Steering Wheel, MSD HEI Coil, Taylor 8mm Wires, Recaro Seats,
Alpine CD+Changer,Rockford & Soundstream Amps, Premier TS-1040C Subs, Polk Audio highs/mids.
Best ET: 14.94@91.67
WS6 Trans Am

 

The sending unit is bad, or the wire is disconnected. The shot of full-scale is designed into the circuit as a gauge check so you know it's OK.

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"So many Mustangs, so little time..."

 

i wouldn't worr yabout the gauge. see if it cintinues and if it reads the correct temp. the gauge in my iroc always pegged when i started it and then went back to where it was.

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ICON Motorsports
1st & 3rd

 

Zepher,

The overflow/recovery reservoir might be full, but if the radiator cap is not allowing the suction valve to open, the radiator might be empty. If the coolant level is below the temperature sender, the dash gauge might not indicate anything meaningful.

Wait until the engine is cool, then remove the radiator cap and refill the system. Start the engine with the cap removed to purge all the air, and top off the system once it has warmed up.

GENERAL WARNING:

If you spill some antifreeze, keep your dog away from it. Clean it up and flush it away A.S.A.P. My 1-year old lab was hanging with me in the garage when I was tearing down an engine. I handn't kept up with cleanup since I was in a hurry to get parts off. I saw him licking his lips near a puddle on the floor. I wasn't sure if he had even been in the puddle, but...

It was a tough decision, but I decided not to let him die the slow, painful death from kidney failure and had two antedote kits administered until the blood tests were clean. At over $580.00 per dose, it quickly increased the value of the dog to more than some vehicles I've had, and I had to drive 120 miles to get the second dose.

Too bad my wife's cat wasn't hanging around there instead.

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Later,
Vader
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"No matter how hard you try you can't stop us now"
Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0

 

Thanks guys,
The wire from the sending unit got disconnected, put it on and it works fine.