Does the alternator affect your Mason temp gauge...yes?

[Lewy]

I've been having probs with a ropey alternator and finally got round to replacing it this weekend. Symptoms were occasional flashing sed and charge lights and fluctuating temp gauge that would dive towards cool for a few seconds then recover back to its previous position.

My temp gauge has also been sitting higher than usual for the last 6 months and I have changed the stat, rad and a couple of hoses which has made a difference to the running temp but the needle still seems to edge towards the hotter end of the scale.

After run to and from work today with new alternator the temp gauge is sitting noticeably LOWER and even more strangely the TM2 temp seems to be a good couple of degrees lower too - I've been doing the same journey everyday for 2 years and pretty much know what it will read at any one point in the journey which includes a fair few inclines.

So the question - would a poorly operating alternator affect the Mason alarm needle reading - I'm pretty sure it does. But how would a new alternator lower the over-all running temp? Or is that just a coincidence?

Thoughts or ideas - or consign to history.

[g8dhe]

Possibly, if the Alternator wasn't charging the battery then the electronics will have been running on an ever decreasing voltage. A lower voltage may well cause the electronics to give an incorrect/inaccurate display which could be either greater or lesser than expected. So very possible.

[missfixit70]

I'd imagine a poorly running alternator may increase actual runnning temp, as it's putting more load on the engine trying to provide the necessary power?

[bigdaddycain]

In answer to the title of this thread....Perhaps. I know that an extreme angle of the vehicle (i.e. facing up a very steep slope) puts my mason alarm gauge readings back to "non mason" mode...right up until the bongo has levelled itself again, then the guage starts to creep back up.

[Rhod]

The answer is "yes", in my case at least, but the effects were different from yours!!

When my alternator failed, one of the symptoms was a low reading voltmeter, but the other was that the temperature gauge reverted to non-Mason format - ie the needle dropped back to 11 o'clock. New alternator installed & everything was back to normal.

[Lewy]

Another run in and from work and the TM2 defo showing a 2 or 3 degrees cooler than I would normally expect and temp gauge sitting in very acceptable lower position. I wonder how many other people might see fluctuations in a Mason damped Temp needle and get the heebie geebies - perhaps as I have been doing for the last few months not considering that it might be caused in part or entirely by a dicky alternator? And I reckon my engine was running hot prior to work done on the coolant system anyway.

I do think the Mason alarm is a very good bit of kit though!!!