temperature gauge does not register
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Joined: Jun 2003
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From: Raleigh
temperature gauge does not register
My 1989 Ford 150 4.9L temperature gauge registers nothing (or below cold) most of the time. It will register intermitantly, maybe for five minutes out of an hour of driving. When it does register, the temperature is normal. As soon as I engage the key, the gauge needle dives below the cold setting. I have had the thermostat replaced. Does this sound like a gauge problem or a temperature sending unit problem or what? Thanks for any help.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,971
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From: Virginia
temperature gauge does not register
Find the gauge sending unit on the engine. This might be the hardest part, since we had another discussion on here about finding the wrong sensor. Your year truck is fuel injected, so you have a sensor for the computer, and another for the guage. Maybe somebody else can tell you exactly where it is. I believe one clue is it has only one wire going to it.
Anyway, once you find the sensor, take the wire off the sensor, and ground the wire. The needle should move all the way to one side when you turn the key on. Then take the wire off the ground, and let it hang free. The needle should swing all the way to the other side of the scale. This will tell you your guage and wiring is good, and that it is the sensor that is bad.
Anyway, once you find the sensor, take the wire off the sensor, and ground the wire. The needle should move all the way to one side when you turn the key on. Then take the wire off the ground, and let it hang free. The needle should swing all the way to the other side of the scale. This will tell you your guage and wiring is good, and that it is the sensor that is bad.
