Temp gauge quit tonight

[Michael]

I took 5609 out to dinner tonight and on the way home the temp gauge quit. It went to 6:0'clock position when the car started up(I keep a close watch on my gauges, it worked fine on the way to dinner). It never once moved from pointing straight down. I fooled around the back of the gauge, but I think my problem is the sensor. Before I go diagnose with my multimeter, is this the right sensor?

http://www.delorean.com/store/p-6265-switch-thermotime.aspx

[Cory W]

Close.

http://www.delorean.com/store/p-6209-temperature-switch.aspx

It couldn't hurt either to remove the connector cover in the engine compartment, unplug the bulkhead connectors underneath, and replace.

[Michael]

Thanks, of course it would be the one harder to get to. I went out and looked and it seems it wouldn't be that hard to replace though, just a little awkward. The connector was nice and tight, moved it a bit but no help. I think/hope it's the sensor, because if the gauge had no power to it whatsoever, it would remain in the normal resting position, not be pulled straight down.

[Ashyukun]

Mine has had a bad habit of the needle somehow getting stuck straight down. The first time, I pulled the cluster and knocked the needle free so it worked again. The next time it happened, I was on the road and that wasn't practical.

Thankfully, I found that a properly bent paperclip will fit in through the trip reset hole in the bezel (between the reset shaft and the bezel there is just enough of a gap) and can be used to knock the needle free. I'd recommend trying this before you try anything else more drastic...

[DMCNY]

I think/hope it's the sensor, because if the gauge had no power to it whatsoever, it would remain in the normal resting position, not be pulled straight down.

Although this is not always the case, as I just went though this a few months back. I had both good power and ground at my temp gauge, but there must have been something bad internally with the windings that the resistance from the sender had no effect on the gauge. I ended up changing the gauge in the end and it worked.

Not saying that you need the gauge, but you can do a quick test by turning your key to the ON position and take the wire off the sender and ground it to a good ground somewhere on the engine. If the gauge and circuit is good, the gauge should swing to full hot and return back to full cold when ground is released.

I would start there.

[Michael]

Mine has had a bad habit of the needle somehow getting stuck straight down. The first time, I pulled the cluster and knocked the needle free so it worked again. The next time it happened, I was on the road and that wasn't practical.

Thankfully, I found that a properly bent paperclip will fit in through the trip reset hole in the bezel (between the reset shaft and the bezel there is just enough of a gap) and can be used to knock the needle free. I'd recommend trying this before you try anything else more drastic...

Fixed!!! Thanks, I just happen to keep a paperclip in the ashtray for setting the clock and it works perfect now.

Thanks again for the advice.

[DeLorean03]

I will tell you that mine did this too - it would unstick itself after some hitting of my hand on the binnacle, but this was - for me - a very early warning sign of my temperature gauge failing entirely too. If you can get yours unstuck, that's good but it may either:

a. Keep doing this or...
b. Do what mine did - it'll start reading higher temperatures than the actual temperature of the coolant. Mine would read 220, but when hitting the coolant sensor with a laser gun gauge it was actually 183 or so.

Just letting you know what could happen down the road...

[Michael]

If it happens again I will just order a new temp/voltage cluster. Would be a good time to replace the cluster bulbs with led...make lemonade.

[Ashyukun]

Yeah, I'm figuring I'll be replacing mine at some point down the line too... I watch the gauges pretty closely and know how long it generally takes the car to warm up, so if I don't see the needle moving like I expect it to, I can pull the paper clip out of the 'ash tray' and pope the needle with it. I'm kind of hoping that the 'modern' cluster being discussed over in Custom happens so I can replace the whole thing with that instead of just the one piece with the voltmeter...