To all the Bonneville experts....heres a good one

I had my thermostat replaced before Christmas after my coolant/block heater problem. The coolant temp gage died, and I figured that extreme engine heat cooked the coolant sensor. Anyway, I had the sensor replaced today. And the gage is still inactive.

The needle dances a bit but it never gets above 50 degrees. Is it a crossed wire? faulty gage?

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance

JW

When I get home to my magic book, I can give you the resistance values of the thermistor (sensor) at different temps. You can check it with an ohmmeter. If it'* good, it'll be the wires or the gauge. Don't assume you got a 'good' new part. Doesn't always happen. In a thermocouple type device, a short will cause a low temp and a pure open will cause an infinite temp. If it is wiring, you have short, but stay tuned and I'll post you a little troubleshooting procedure. About midnight west coast time.

Great!!!..Thanks for the effort Will

If i don't catch your post tonight, I will for sure tomorrow at the office.

OH..BTW, the Cool Blues...not to bad...I like them a lot

thanks again

JW

Ok....here we go......(gonna be a helluva ride):

Disconnect the electrical connector to the ECT (japanese for Engine Coolant Temp sensor). Funny. My magic book sez there may be some fuel delivery lines you have to remove, and then use a loop of wire to disengage the locking tab on the sensor. Maybe Jrs3800 can confirm this, or one of you other guys with the Pre-92 cars. Anyway, get the freakin' connector off (you'll wish yours was where mine is when this is all over).

Get the stinking sensor out of the car. You may need to plug the hole. Hook up an ohmmeter to the leads. If it'* a 2-wire, just across the two leads. If it'* a 3-wire, you want Pin C to the ground of the sensor body. Pin C is the light green wire. You should read 332 ohms at 176° so get the hot water boiling on the stove. Check it for 1802 ohms at 95° and 9420 ohms at 32 also. It should be close on all three readings. If it'* off by more than 20% or so, replace the sensor......but I'm betting it'* ok unless they sold you the wrong one.

Get back to us with the results, and we'll go from there. Oh, before you get back to us, trace that wire bundle from the ECT sensor all the way back to where it passes through the firewall. Make sure it isn't pinched where it passes through.

Before you reconnect it, start the car (with the sensor in the hole, but no connector). I wanna know if you throw a SES light. THEN get back to me

Geez...sounds like a mission and a half....I wanted to think that the sensor itself is OK...somewhere, somehow, I think a wire got crossed or pinched.

I noticed the gage had become inactive after the remote starter/keyless entry was installed. Think that might have something to do with it?

I suppose I want to think its an electrical problem, if is not, then delve into the wonderful world of trying to work with the sensor. The guy who installed the sensor yesterday mentioned it was a pain in the *** to do. I looked it over when he was done and agreed, its way down there. Not an easy job.

I'll check the wires first.

I think I can make an educated guess here

1. Faulty Sensor...maybe, but unlikely, it was an AC Delco part

2. Wiring...maybe, worth following the wires as Will mentioned and seeing if its pinched

3. Faulty gage in the dash...most likely.

The plan as it stands right now. First check for pinched wires. If I can't see anything then when I get my fuel lines replaced I will have the mechanic check the gage buy doing the electrical test as Will mentioned and go from there.

Right on the money jr...I wish I was a little closer to Florida, I need a 87-91 expert around here, with the proper tools and skills.

The mechanic told me that they might be able to fix my misaligned cam magnet for a decent price. I may just splurge and spend the $1000 bucks to get the cam magnet, new fuel lines and gage fixed.

After that, mechanically, she'll be top notch

It was the dealer that said that. They told me about $1000 bucks, simply due to time. I was not to happy with the price so, I told them to forget about it.

I would live with the performance problem and save the grand. However, the mechanics that I went to yesterday to get my shaft axle fixed told me that it wouldn't be that much. Maybe half...we'll see

For now I want to get the temp gage working again.