PortlandPat

Greetings,

I am new to this forum. I'm not very competent at maintenance, but I will try to be as specific as possible.

I recently bought a 2000 Civic LX. Stupidly, I didn't notice before buying that the temp gauge doesn't work (I live in the mild climate of Portland OR, so I guess the low dial didn't catch my attention). My mechanic replaced both sensors associated with the gauge (even though the fan relay is working properly), but to no avail; they did, however, give me all that labor and parts for free because it didn't fix the problem. They reassured me that the temperature is stable and proper, and that the fan is kicking on properly. They want me to bring it back in for diagnostics.

Here is the heart of my question: I am at the beginning of a long road trip (about 5,000 miles). I have been pulling over regularly and making sure the fan is still working. Is it stupid for me to continue with this trip without a working temp gauge, considering I will soon be headed for the very hot and humid south? Further, what are some guesses as to what the source of my problem might be?

I scoured these forum for a similar problem to mine, but with no luck. However, my apologies to the community if this question has already been covered.

Thanks!!
Patrick

Former User

Did your mechanic replace the correct temp sensor? Your car has three. The relevant one (temp sending unit) is the 1-wire sensor directly below the distributor. It has a Yel/Grn wire.

Unplug the sending unit and then ground the Yel/Grn wire to the engine. When you turn the key to ON(II), does the temp gauge needle rise toward HOT?

PortlandPat

Great, I'll start there. I will also call my mechanic and get the specific information about which sensors were replaced. Thanks, will reply again soon.