I NEED GAUGE HELP ASAP!! (this is different than my previous gauge post) please!
 

ok, i went to the local indoor junkyard and got some new gauges. The reason why i did this is because on my stock gauges, the temp gauge had hit the crappper...it stayed on the running normal temp location all the time..no matter what...so i could never tell if my engine was hot or cold or anything...

i'm sorry i didnt do more of a full how to on the dash tear down, i was distracted...basically if u're wantin to take u're gauges out, and u're dash ends up looking like this, u're doing great...
http://img144.exs.cx/img144/5905/dashteardown2zt.jpg


back to the story...I purchased gauges from a 99 Explorer XLT...they look exactly the same as my stock gauges with the same exact hook ups and everything to them. Well, after i dissassemled everything and installed them, i turned the key to make sure everything was working fine. Turn key, wait, and yes....oil gauge goes to correct spot, as does battery gauge. tach hits it just right, and the speedo is also correct. The gas gauge is correct, i filled the tank up with gas just to ensure it was reading everything correctly. NOW...here's the problem...the temp gauge...it sits just below normal on my origional operating range temp....I was driving home from Stephs house, a 30 minute drive going 50 the whole way...so i know by the time i got home the truck was warmed up fully. I had the heat wide open, and it's about 20 or 30 degrees here....would this make the temp gauge lower than normal? I got to thinking about it, and i remembered that some Exploders came with a v8, which would run at a higher temp than my 4.0, therefore the temp would be lower....but our gauges are electronic...they only display what the main CPU in the truck tells them...am i correct? The temp would flutter slightly when i would turn the heat off, it would build up SOME, but not that much...maybe in the middle of the thermometer-in-water icon..

This is the sole reason why i went out to buy new gauges...to have the temp working...i dont wanna get stranded on my way to the beach cuz my engine overheated and i didnt know about it. I CAN STILL RETURN THESE GAUGES WITH IN 10 DAYS if they aren't working properly.

Basically i just need to know if this is normal, and i have nothing to worry about or if maybe the exploder i got it out of (which i never saw...there was just an isle full of gauges and i managed to find these..which are in perfect condition, just as good as the ones i pulled out that were stock) had a v8 and it's throwing the reading off.

here is a pic of the new exploder gauges in, the origional gauges in my hand (note the position of the temp read out on the old gauges...where it should be)...
http://img144.exs.cx/img144/4185/oldandnewgauge3vf.jpg

and finally, heres where my temp gauge stayed all night tonite....this is actualy a little higher than it was running...95% of the time it stayed totally below the thermometer icon...
http://img144.exs.cx/img144/3135/picture3376xy.jpg

sorry for the length of this post...i just need some help as soon as i can..thanks guys

The needle is probably just not centered right. Move it to the correct spot.

Oh, and you should really hook me up with your old cluster, i don't have a tach in mine :(

i remember that when cold, it does sit below the line for "C"...so maybe thats the case..but i'm still worried about the exploder v8 thing...

i also noticed that the temp gauge would go up and down a lot as i switched from slower, country road driving to 60 mph highway driving...

phil...we can work a deal out with the gauges, but just so i told ya, the temp gauge stays stuck at the same point in pic #2...but yeah...lemme see some peoples responses on this post, and if everything is cool with the new ones, we got a deal...

There's nothing wrong with the needle position on the Explorer gauge. Just calibrated a little differently from your Mazda. Both show your temperature to be within the "normal" range. Check your owner's manual.

FYI - Explorer V8s do not run hotter than the your V6 - they both have thermostats and radiators. The PCM is not involved in the temp gauge circuit and has nothing to do with the gauge reading - the PCM uses a separate sensor for its coolant temperature input.

Absolutely. I was thinking the exact same things Bob just posted, lol -- oh my, great minds think alike -- and so do Bob's and mine...

As he said, there is NOTHING wrong with those gauges.

There may be nothing wrong with your old gauges. Take the clear cover off and pull the needle assembly up just a bit and it may come free. Sometimes they are just on too tight.

ah, thank ya. i was actually waiting for u to reply john. haha

thank ya. now i'm just nervous about tampering with the needles...god knows with my luck i'd f them up....

Well, don't pull on the needle, pull on the center section. I've had needles off on several units and put them back on. Other than the actual pointer, they're not so fragile.

Bob likely knows as much as I do about this stuff, and probably more in some areas. He is an underappreciated resource, lol! He just doesn't have as big a mouth as I do, and so doesn't get the "press" that I do. He answered your question perfectly, to my mind, but thanks for the confidence! :smile:

ahhh, the dr. pepper mod, i got lots of them :beerchug: