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my temperature guage is crazy and i hate it...


rolledthatho

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hey guys i know the gauge clusters in these cars (92 prix 3.1) are pieces of crap and i wish they would die slow, BUT i cant take this temp gauge getting hot all the time... its enough to look at the fake low coolant light, gas light and temp light, but now the gauge itsself is going all the way to 260 and its not even overheating, i recently flushed my coolant and bled all the air from the system, rad and overflow tank is full...

 

when i get in the car it will heat up normal and maybe 10 mins later its like 2 bars past the middle...so i pull over no noise, boiling...nothing, so i get out pop the hood touch the radiator cap, fine just warm... it has to be a bad gauge, or bad sending unit right?

 

what tends to go wrong on these cars, it very hard for me not to pull over and make sure its not overheating when its right at the red, but i dont just because i know its faking it....

 

tia

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Have you thought about changing your thermostat? If your t-stat is stuck closed, the motor will overheat and the radiator won't feel very hot (because the t-stat isn't allowing hot coolant to flow into the radiator.)

 

If the t-stat is fine, then it sounds to me like your temp sensor needs to be replaced. There are 2 temp sensors (one for the gauge and one for the ECM.) The one you want to replace is (someone correct me if I'm wrong on the location) located on the rear head and has 2 green wires attached. The other sensor (that you don't want to change) has one yellow and one gray wire.

 

It's also possible that your radiator is just old & full of crud and needs to be replaced...

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located on the rear head and has 2 green wires attached.

 

1* green wire

 

i think i have a stuck therm, are they easy to change out?

 

find the rubber hose from the radiator to the engine on the driver's side. The piece of metal that hose goes to is the thermostat housing. It's two 13mm bolts. Undo the bolts, old thermostat goes out, new drops right in. Pie.

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This is the second time I've read about the mystery second green wire. I'm with GuttlessSupreme, there is only one green wire back there. If anyone has actually seen two green wires back there, I'd like to hear about it.

 

Sorry, don't know why that bugs me so much. Must be having a Preventative Maintenance System day.

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  • 1 month later...

The temp gauge in my 93 Grand Prix acts funny too. Idling will cause it to rise fairly quickly, and a fan seems to kick on around 260 and bring it back down. Or if I accelerate before the gauge hits 260, that will bring it down as well. But it doesn't get to the point where the gauge is in the red (and I keep a diligent eye on it.) Crusing at 75 on the highway holds the temp steady at around 200-210.

 

I'm having a coolant flush done on Saturday just to put fresh coolant in the car as I do not know when it was done last. If that doesn't do anything, next step will be either the thermostat or a check to ensure that the fans are working properly.

 

Kevin

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Changing coolant should go hand in hand with changing the t-stat. Might as well do both at the same time to avoid spilling coolant and having to bleed the system twice, right?

 

Changing the t-stat on the series II 3.1 is very easy.. on the 3100 it's a f'n PITA!!!

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