car:92 civic sedan lx
my problem the temperature gauge does not read at all. when i flip the iginition to the ON position the gauge moves back a little. the fan works fine. im a bit worried because i think im overheating. can someone please help?

 

Could be either your thermostat is broken, the thermostat switch or your cluster.

Probably your thermostat though.

 

well i replaced the thermostat and still no read. it fixed my overheating problem, but its like driving blind, no reading whatsoever. i guess its the cluster itself


Modified by klinster at 2:24 PM 8/22/2007

 

Is there a coolant temp sensor on those models? If so, I think it's 2 wires and one controls the temp gauge so did you check that? I don't know if there is one but if so it should work.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkoundrelUSA &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Could be either your thermostat is broken, the thermostat switch or your cluster.

Probably your thermostat though. </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is a common mis-conception.

Your thermostat has absolutely nothing to do with your coolant temperature gauge.

The thermostat works EXACTLY like your radiator cap. When it reaches a certain temperature it opens up and allows coolant to pass through it - that's ALL it does.

It has NOTHING to do with your temperature gauge or fan - the only thing that can make it overheat is if it gets jammed up and doesn't open - then your coolant doesn't flow through the radiator and that's why you overheat when the thermostat dies. It has NOTHING to do with that gauge.

The gauge is controlled by the ECU, which senses the temp based on the reading from the coolant temperature sensor - which is located right next to the upper rad hose - towards the front of the block, but on the side.

THE FIX
Go to your engine, unplug the coolant temperature sensor (CTS) - jump the plug with a paper cip or something, your temperature gauge should move towards hot - make sure you remove the paper clip b4 it reaches all the way hot or you can damage the gauge itself. If it moves, that means the gauge works and the wiring works - and that it's the temperature sensor itself. If it doesn't move, you could be looking at a bad CTS, bad wiring, or bad gauge, I'd start by looking at the gauge cluster if it doesn't move when you jump the harness.

 

such a lame question but, jump the plug with the key on ON position, yes?

 

im guessing yes.