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- Joined
- Dec 16, 2011
- Messages
- 77
- Reaction score
- 2
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- Vehicle Year
- 95 Ranger 2.3L
- Transmission
- Manual
I have a 95 ranger 2.3L with 90k miles, that I use to commute to work. I noticed one day on my way home, the temp gauge was pegged off the chart, way past H, at about the 11 o'clock position. I panicked for a second, but knew the engine wasn't really that hot, since I had only driven about a mile, from a dead cold start. I stopped anyway, to ensure the engine was cold....it was. Ironically, I noticed the gauge issue after jump starting a VERY DEAD vehicle that sat for a year, at work. Not sure if that caused the gauge issue though.
So, I first mistakenly replaced the temp sender (for the ECM) with no change. Still over pegged gauge at cold, that maybe moves a hair farther when up to operating temp. I then replaced the temp sender in the block, thinking that would fix it. Nope. Same over pegged reading at cold with new sender (maybe even farther up). So, then I unplug the one wire from the sender, and the gauge needle drops to the bottom, to full cold.
It seems like a short in the sending wire, but if that was the case, why would the gauge drop to the bottom when I unplug the wire from the sender? Nearest I can figure, one of 3 things is happening:
1. I replaced the bad sender with another bad sender ( unlikely)
2. The gauge is bad
3. A resistor between the sender and gauge has gone bad, throwing off the calibration of the needle
Is there a resistor associated with the temp gauge I can test? Do gauges just go bad?
So, I first mistakenly replaced the temp sender (for the ECM) with no change. Still over pegged gauge at cold, that maybe moves a hair farther when up to operating temp. I then replaced the temp sender in the block, thinking that would fix it. Nope. Same over pegged reading at cold with new sender (maybe even farther up). So, then I unplug the one wire from the sender, and the gauge needle drops to the bottom, to full cold.
It seems like a short in the sending wire, but if that was the case, why would the gauge drop to the bottom when I unplug the wire from the sender? Nearest I can figure, one of 3 things is happening:
1. I replaced the bad sender with another bad sender ( unlikely)
2. The gauge is bad
3. A resistor between the sender and gauge has gone bad, throwing off the calibration of the needle
Is there a resistor associated with the temp gauge I can test? Do gauges just go bad?
