I just got a new vehicle. I've noticed some issues.

Please read entire post, before responding. Thank you.

When I first got the vehicle, the temp gauge would run all the way up to 3/4 of the way Hot, to all the way Hot. Turning on the radio, muting the radio, would alter the temp gauges position. I also noticed the fan never turned on.

I was "told" the thermostat had been replaced a while back. Even if the motor wasn't physically getting hot, I decided to replace some things as they weren't that expensive, and it would ease my mind.

What I've replaced:
- Thermostat
- ECT switch / radiator switch
- ECT gauge sending sensor

Drained / refilled coolant.
Changed the oil.

Put a small amount of load on the motor for a while, after doing all this today, and the fan, eventually cut on. So thats good.

Now, sometimes the gauge acts up, sometimes it doesn't. Whats weird is I can turn the car off, turn it back on, and the gauge is back to normal operating temperature, slightly below halfway.

What's also weird is that, the lights around the Park, Neutral, D4, D3, etc, etc. @ the shifter base, will sometimes light up, sometimes not. Also, putting the car into park, from drive, has altered the position of the temp gauge. So weird.

At this point, I'm pretty sure the kid I got this car from, should never do any kind of wiring again, (because he has all kinds of stuff running to this amp in the back) or . . . . . . . .

There's a bad ground somewhere, maybe a short.

My next, step is to remove all foreign wiring, the amp, etc etc, to help shine some light on what might be causing this.

 

oh, any help / thoughts / insight, would be greatly appreciated! Thanks.

 

Undo all that crap the previous owner did. The wire for the temp gauge (yel/blk) is probably grounding out somewhere. Check the cluster wiring to ensure he didn't mod that as well