Sticky temp gauge

papa joe · Post by **papa joe** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:04 pm

Just started to get an intermittent sticky temp gauge (as mentioned in "interesting feedback from auz") drops to below zero,

go round a bend and it pops back up to where its meant to be

, no fluid loss, checked and cleaned all connections, appears to run nice and cool , peterbee & haydyn have suggested possible stuck thermostat .........

What think you please

Thanks PJ

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:57 pm

Papa joe. I think you may have misunderstood me.
I said "if it turns out to be a sticky thermostat you need to sort it"
I don't in fact expect that to be the outcome. More like a connection or dicky guage to my way of thinking.

papa joe · Post by **papa joe** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 8:19 pm

Yo !

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:04 pm

Been thinking about your sticky/flicky temp guage. Surley it carn't be a sticking thermostat ! that would make the guage flick from normal to hot if anything ??yours is going from normal to cold. Must be a connection/gauge fault/or sender unit.

Post by **westonwarrior** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:19 pm

That makes sense to me and as you have just fitted a water loss alarm my guess would be the connection to the back of the dials

petebee · Post by **petebee** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:22 pm

when I first got my bongo it ran for miles even motorway driving with the temperature gauge staying mainly zero ocasionally moving towards normal then dropping back to zero.First changed the sender unit to no effect then the thermostat which cured the problem.

haydn callow · Post by **haydn callow** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:31 pm

That dosn't make sense to my simple logical mind. I think we need some techies to comment.

bigdaddycain · Post by **bigdaddycain** » Mon Aug 13, 2007 11:30 pm

Sorry, i'm not a techie, but, i think you'll find you have a problem with the connection from the sensor, to the cable connector.

This can sometimes be bodged with a bit of a bend (to increase pressure on the contacts).

Its best to clean the contacts thoroughly,and apply a small smear of copper grease for protection.

Or the sender unit could be knackered,you can find this by lifting the drivers seat,follow the water hose to the right, and you'll find the sensor there. Have the replacement sensor to hand, (XTT 84)as removal of the old means water will leak till replaced with new unit.

papa joe · Post by **papa joe** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:41 pm

Thanks for the info folks, right pain to track a fault when it's intermittent, will double check all connections before ordering up bits

PJ

francophile1947 · Post by **francophile1947** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:52 pm

haydn callow wrote:That dosn't make sense to my simple logical mind. I think we need some techies to comment.

Have to agree Haydn - it only makes sense if the stat is stuck open and gauge only moves up when engine gets warmer (when labouring up hills etc) - it makes no sense if gauge is going up and down. It's either a faulty connection or gauge.

tridentlee · Post by **tridentlee** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:17 pm

if you need another temp gauge i have one hear free, just post + pack if you want it, lee

petebee · Post by **petebee** » Tue Aug 14, 2007 8:19 pm

the symptoms of my fluctuating gauge led me to check everything apart from the thermostat ,even motorway driving didnt give constant normal readings.However on very long uphill pulls the needle did have a tendency to move off zero hence changed thermostat and all OK.

papa joe · Post by **papa joe** » Wed Aug 15, 2007 5:17 pm

Thanks very much Lee probably take you up on that

As soon as I can get Mrs PJ out, I'll re-check all the connections just in case.

tridentlee wrote:if you need another temp gauge i have one hear free, just post + pack if you want it, lee

Cheers papa joe

papa joe · Post by **papa joe** » Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:06 pm

Think it's allways nice to have a conclusion to a problem, especially after seeking advice

, intermittent temp gauge problem was tracked down to nothing more serious than a couple of dirty/loose connections, works fine now after a clean and tighten, also flushed the cooling system had it pressure tested and added recommended Mazda ready mixed anti freeze ( yeah I know it's all the same as the rest etc etc

) surprised that Mrs PJ has done nearly 10,000 km since end of May, so oil & filter change carried out as well

AND all three wipers changed !!!

Thanks for the advice and offers of parts much appreciated

papa joe