Oh crap :( Water pump leaking, temp and amp gauges dead

[Michael]

If your volt gauge is working a little then you may have 2 separate problems...in other words your volt gauge may be working and telling you the truth. Check your battery voltage.

As far as the temp gauge, does it (or the volt gauge) move at all? The temp gauge should read 0 on a cold engine with the ignition key on.

[Dangermouse]

Obvious question - are your V-belts still on?

[DaraSue]

As far as I can tell the belts are all where they're supposed to be. I did just turn it on accessories and the gauges seem to be somewhat back to normal. The temp gauge went back to the bottom and the amp gauge moved up a little. But the battery light looked like it was flashing. Is that normal or was it not charging last night due to a wet belt slipping or something?

[Michael]

If your alternator/pump belt is slipping the battery light will illuminate but that usually happens under a load (ie. Acceleration) unless it's really loose. Tension needs to be checked and verified.

[DMC5180]

Flashing batt light is normal with the new DMCH CS130 alternator.


Dennis

[Bitsyncmaster]

Flashing batt light is normal with the new DMCH CS130 alternator.


Dennis

You can stop the flashing by connecting the sense terminal to the output (battery) terminal. It also stops the voltage dropout every 18 seconds. So I'm guessing that flashing is an error code.

[DaraSue]

Well, I started it up and drove a mile up the road. At first the gauges were still frozen but then it started acting normal again (a little over 13 volts and around 160 deg). I almost got back on the freeway but thought I better get it looked at just in case. Good thing b\c by the time I got to the shop the volt meter was dead again. He tested the battery and it was good and charging. We ran it up and it looks like it's leaking from around the thermostat housing. He's blowing it off now to try and find exactly where the leak is.

[Lwanmtr]

Not sure on the volt meter..electrical issues can be fun to track down, could even be just a loose connector.

Hope its just the seal on the leaking.

[DaraSue]

They found a couple of hoses that were still loose and fixed those - one was a bypass hose that I think was inside the thermostat housing so I probably couldn't have fixed it myself. It's not leaking anymore but the gauges were still not right. They said the battery was low even though the alternator was charging so they're going to charge it some more and replace the belts. Fortunately I still had the set I brought with me from Chicago

I checked the fuses and they looked good so it wasn't that.

[sdg3205]

My thermostat housing has sprung a leak before too. Tightening the 2 bolts did nothing. Very odd. Usually the seals corrode nicely into a bulletproof water barrier. I used a new seal and RTV to ensure it stayed leak free.

If your gauge is intermittent check all your connections from the sensors, bulkhead, and binnacle harness. Clean them very well. Even the printed circuit board GENTLY.