Finally I've had time to work on my car!

I replaced the transmission mount, that Energy Suspension mount is awesome!!! Much better than my old mount (which had a 'Made In India' sticker on it).

I also put a MSD Blaster coil, Accel 8.5mm wires, and new plugs in, which makes the car idle a bit better now I think. I haven't driven the car enough yet to see any milage improvement. BTW if you guys think changing spark plugs is hard, try changing the thermostat. If you have the money, pick up a socket wrench that has a pivot right on the head, it makes it much easier to change plugs. But I don't have A/C or AIR so maybe I don't know how crowded it can get in there.

The third thing I did was put a 180 degree thermostat in. My old one would get stuck closed occasionally, so it got replaced. The only problem is that my temperature gauge doesn't read anything now. I'm pretty sure I reconnected all the wires, but it just doesn't read anything.

My gauges are in Celcius, so I hope I've done the conversion right... when the car is turned off, the needle is all the way to the bottom, below the 40C mark (110F?). When I start it, it goes all the way to the other end, past the 130C (290F?) mark, but then drops to slightly above the 40C mark. I've let it idle for a while, and it still doesn't change.

Any ideas? I'm thinking I forgot to reconnect a sensor wire somewhere, or the coolant sensors died on me, just at the wrong time. I'm a bit worried that it won't heat up enough for the computer to go into open-loop.

 

if i remember right...i am at 160f with my 180*, and i remember the calculation from science was divide in half and subtract 32 to give u c (i belive it is)
so about 70c

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1989 Firebird
2.8 v6, t5 swapped in

Ram Hi-po clutch, Cold Air, 1.6 rockers (ready to install), Lakewood LCA's, Lakewood Lift bars, Wonder Bar, 3" y-pipe, Random Tech Cat, 3" I-pipe, Flowmasters, MSd 6a, MSD Coil (Fireball in future) Accel 8.8 wires, MSD Ignition Module, 4th Gen Seats (not front yet)

" I'd rather run last in a full out race, than to NOT run at all ".

 

You could always feel the upper hose; that will tell you if the engine's getting hot enough. Odd how your gauge is acting up... I don't think you would've come near the sensor's wire. The sensor for the temp gauge (or switch for the overheating warning light) is on the front of the driver's side head. It's back is pointed at the a/c compressor, so you might have to move the compressor to get to it. The "switch" for the "warning light" has a single green wire coming from it, I'd imagine the "sender" for the "gauge" has the same colored wire, but I'm not sure.

I forget what year/engine you have... but if you have the 85-89 2.8, the two temp sensors nearest the thermo housing are for the cold start injector & the CTS (coolant temp sens) for the ECM. Neither of those controls the dashboard's gauge.

There's gotta be a way to test the sensor itself. If I remember over the weekend, I'll come on, and give you the test. I'd imagine it involves an ohm-meter. Then you could tell if it's your sensor, your gauge, or the wiring in between.

As for the gauge swinging when you start the car, I don't have factory gauges, maybe someone else can help with that?


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-Tom P (Hot rodded 1986 Firebird 2.8l) from http://www.f-body.net/mailbag/3rd/3rd_mailbag.html message boards
---Think your car could be pic of the week? Visit http://www.f-body.net for details!

 

A new sensor is only like 4 bucks or so. And easy to change. I had something similar i took my guages out once and put them back in and they all pegged so i hit te cluster a few times worked fine ever since

 

Whoops, forgot to post my stats: 1987 2.8L Firebird, all the gauges in metric.

I have felt the hoses, and they are both hot after driving home in rush hour. Now that I think of it, I don't remember the fans coming on, but maybe I just didn't notice it. I'll have to leave it idle for a while to see if they come on... if not I should be worried.

Tom, I think that the needle swinging all the way high is a test so that you know that the gauge is working, at least that is the way that I would have done it.

I'll be offline for the next few days, so thanks for your replies. I'll get back to you all on how it went.

Alex

 

Have you replaced your CTS lately? It sounds to me like you might actually have an idiot light sender. I could be wrong, but I don't remember gauges normally pegging during bulb test (that little position between 'run' and 'start' where all of your idiot lights should come on as a test of the bulbs)

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'86 Camaro SC, black /w silver racing stripes
2.8l MPFI/700r4 /w special 2nd gear delete option
In search of new v8 engine & transmission, now contemplating t5 swap to get me out of this mess.
Misc Mods: Cut air box, '83 Firebird spoiler.
Performance Parts: MSD coil, Accel 8mm wires, SplitFire plugs, Gabriel hijackers.
Audio Mods: Pioneer DEH-P3000, two 12" Optimus Pro Audio subs in hand-made enclosure each powered by a 260 watt Optimus amp. Working on shaving the box for weight.
My Homepage, with pics.