coolant temp sensor problem
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coolant temp sensor problem
so i bought a replacement and installed it and the guage wouldn't move. It stays all the way cold. So some guy did some little "grounding" trick and it didn't do what he wanted it to do so i returned that one and bought a replacement. It's still reading nothing. it's getting power to the connector and out the connector. I tried spraying some wd-40 in there to help it make a connection and still nothing. I'm at a loss of what to do, and i don't want to buy a new connector because you can only get them through ford and lord knows i'll have to bring my life savings if i buy it from them.
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#18
That sensor (one wire) relies on its case getting a path to ground.
When you installed a new sensor, did you teflon tape the threads by any chance?
To continue troubleshooting, simply take a piece of wire. Touch one end of the wire to the sensor case and touch the other end to the NEGATIVE battery terminal. Does the gage work? If so, you have a GROUND problem.
You already ruled out a power problem.
You could also be fixing the wrong part. This symptom could be that the thermostat isn't closing, so the coolant never gets warm enough to register on the gage. IIRC, when the gage comes off the cold peg is ~ 150 degrees. I can check again on the drive home (compare ScanGuageII to dash gage), but this could easily be a bad thermostat.
Follow up on the temp gage:
Mine reaches the first line on the gage, (just above buried at full cold) @ 143 degrees. It appears to start moving from fully cold in the low 130s.
When you installed a new sensor, did you teflon tape the threads by any chance?
To continue troubleshooting, simply take a piece of wire. Touch one end of the wire to the sensor case and touch the other end to the NEGATIVE battery terminal. Does the gage work? If so, you have a GROUND problem.
You already ruled out a power problem.
You could also be fixing the wrong part. This symptom could be that the thermostat isn't closing, so the coolant never gets warm enough to register on the gage. IIRC, when the gage comes off the cold peg is ~ 150 degrees. I can check again on the drive home (compare ScanGuageII to dash gage), but this could easily be a bad thermostat.
Follow up on the temp gage:
Mine reaches the first line on the gage, (just above buried at full cold) @ 143 degrees. It appears to start moving from fully cold in the low 130s.
Last edited by Earl43P; 05-13-2009 at 06:28 AM.
#19
That sensor (one wire) relies on its case getting a path to ground.
When you installed a new sensor, did you teflon tape the threads by any chance?
To continue troubleshooting, simply take a piece of wire. Touch one end of the wire to the sensor case and touch the other end to the NEGATIVE battery terminal. Does the gage work? If so, you have a GROUND problem.
You already ruled out a power problem.
When you installed a new sensor, did you teflon tape the threads by any chance?
To continue troubleshooting, simply take a piece of wire. Touch one end of the wire to the sensor case and touch the other end to the NEGATIVE battery terminal. Does the gage work? If so, you have a GROUND problem.
You already ruled out a power problem.
Just measure the sensor resistance to the engine block, or the negative battery terminal, that will tell you if it getting properly grounded or not....
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