97 Civic - temp gauge not working
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97 Civic - temp gauge not working
1997 Honda Civic DX - 1.6L 4spd auto D16Y7, stock everything but Cold Air intake.
My issue is in my notes attatched below, thanks in advance for any and all input.
My issue is in my notes attatched below, thanks in advance for any and all input.
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re: 97 Civic - temp gauge not working
There are ONLY two things that will make the dash gauge stay on cold while driving. (which I guess is what you mean by "heat gauge not working".)
1. Thermostat stuck open, so the engine never warms up. You can check the thermostat by removing it and looking if the two parts are closed together like they should be when cold. Or just replace it. Working on the thermostat of course requires draining the system. Be sure to purge the air out when you refill it.
2. Problem with the dash gauge system. This consists of the sender (the one under the distributor with one wire, the only thing this sensor does is drive the dash gauge), the gauge itself, and the wire between them.
Unplug the sender and jumper the wire to ground. Turn the key on, the gauge should shoot up toward hot. (Do not leave the key on long enough to slam the needle at hot.) If the gauge doesn't move, the gauge is bad or there is a break in the wire. If that test passes, test drive to fully warm up, then measure the resistance of the sender, it should be about 75 ohms. (sender resistance gets lower as it gets hotter). The plug between the harness onto the sender terminal sometimes fails to make contact.
1. Thermostat stuck open, so the engine never warms up. You can check the thermostat by removing it and looking if the two parts are closed together like they should be when cold. Or just replace it. Working on the thermostat of course requires draining the system. Be sure to purge the air out when you refill it.
2. Problem with the dash gauge system. This consists of the sender (the one under the distributor with one wire, the only thing this sensor does is drive the dash gauge), the gauge itself, and the wire between them.
Unplug the sender and jumper the wire to ground. Turn the key on, the gauge should shoot up toward hot. (Do not leave the key on long enough to slam the needle at hot.) If the gauge doesn't move, the gauge is bad or there is a break in the wire. If that test passes, test drive to fully warm up, then measure the resistance of the sender, it should be about 75 ohms. (sender resistance gets lower as it gets hotter). The plug between the harness onto the sender terminal sometimes fails to make contact.
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Thread Starter
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Joined: Jul 2016
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Re: 97 Civic - temp gauge not working
There are ONLY two things that will make the dash gauge stay on cold while driving. (which I guess is what you mean by "heat gauge not working".)
1. Thermostat stuck open, so the engine never warms up. You can check the thermostat by removing it and looking if the two parts are closed together like they should be when cold. Or just replace it. Working on the thermostat of course requires draining the system. Be sure to purge the air out when you refill it.
2. Problem with the dash gauge system. This consists of the sender (the one under the distributor with one wire, the only thing this sensor does is drive the dash gauge), the gauge itself, and the wire between them.
Unplug the sender and jumper the wire to ground. Turn the key on, the gauge should shoot up toward hot. (Do not leave the key on long enough to slam the needle at hot.) If the gauge doesn't move, the gauge is bad or there is a break in the wire. If that test passes, test drive to fully warm up, then measure the resistance of the sender, it should be about 75 ohms. (sender resistance gets lower as it gets hotter). The plug between the harness onto the sender terminal sometimes fails to make contact.
1. Thermostat stuck open, so the engine never warms up. You can check the thermostat by removing it and looking if the two parts are closed together like they should be when cold. Or just replace it. Working on the thermostat of course requires draining the system. Be sure to purge the air out when you refill it.
2. Problem with the dash gauge system. This consists of the sender (the one under the distributor with one wire, the only thing this sensor does is drive the dash gauge), the gauge itself, and the wire between them.
Unplug the sender and jumper the wire to ground. Turn the key on, the gauge should shoot up toward hot. (Do not leave the key on long enough to slam the needle at hot.) If the gauge doesn't move, the gauge is bad or there is a break in the wire. If that test passes, test drive to fully warm up, then measure the resistance of the sender, it should be about 75 ohms. (sender resistance gets lower as it gets hotter). The plug between the harness onto the sender terminal sometimes fails to make contact.
My heat gauge doesn't read at all is what I meant. It never moves. I've also replaced the thermostat now with no change. I've also jumped the sender with no movement on my cluster.. I've also tried testing the resistance on the sender and it read a crazy high number, something like 1700 or so. Could that be because I had my multimeter set to 2000ohm range? When I had it in the 200 range I didn't get a reading. At this point I think it's the gauge itself but am still not 100% sure.
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Re: 97 Civic - temp gauge not working
If the gauge doesn't move when you jump the wire it is either the gauge or the wiring, not the sender or the thermostat.
Sender resistance I mentioned is measured with the engine warmed up.
Sender resistance I mentioned is measured with the engine warmed up.
Old Fart
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From: kelowna, bc, canada
Re: 97 Civic - temp gauge not working
Either the gauge itself or wiring open circuit between sending unit and gauge.
Test by inserting test light into sending unit terminal on the back of cluster, if still no movement, replace gauge/cluster, if on the other hand you do get movement on gauge, find open circuit on lead between sending unit and gauge. 94
Test by inserting test light into sending unit terminal on the back of cluster, if still no movement, replace gauge/cluster, if on the other hand you do get movement on gauge, find open circuit on lead between sending unit and gauge. 94
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