OK, its really only doing one odd thing. sometimes when I shut the car off, the gauge will go all the way up and just stay there until I turn the car back on. when the car is on, it reads fine. Its just when the car is off, sometimes is goes all the way up. does anybody have any clue why? I have an 89 DX with a ZC swap. I've had the swap for about a year. I was told it could be a short. any clues? sometimes the gauge will also rise when I'm driving, not all the way, but half to 3/4. it seems like its rising to fast, it just shoots up. could the sender be bad? I've had my car heat up before and it defenitly seems like it is going to fast. thanks

 

Not the sender. Check for a good ground to the cluster. These cars are very sensitive to ground problems.

 

doesnt sound like Its doing much harm so I wouldnt worrie about it to bad

 

OK, more info to help track down my problem. as I'm driving the temp. gauge goes up, I thought it was just running hot, but now I'm not sure. the gauge moves when any kind of power is used, like when I use my turn signals, or brakes. the turn signals make the gauge go up and down slightly, and the brake makes it go up a little. also anything else that draws power, like the heater, headlights, etc. I checked the harness's going into the cluster and there nice and tight. I checked all my underhood grounds, I'm lost. Also sometimes when I turn my key to ACC. the headunit blinks. and when I turn the key to where the lights come on the dash, then turn it off, the battery light stays on. its very faint then it clicks off, I can hear a clicking noise. it's only done it once or twice since these problems have started. could it be something inside the alternator? sorry about making this so long, but I have to figure this out.

 

can you borrow a cluster from someone? I'd try that because you may just have a bad temp gauge...

 

Yeah, I probably could. I'll give that a try, but it sounds like there maybe something else wrong. could something be wrong with the alternator to cause this?

 

try a different sending unit, should be under the distributor and a little to the left, it is very small and has shiny terminal on it. it varies resistance in the circuit so if it is shot it will provide wrong resistance causing the gauge to give whacky readings. I just had to do the same thing to my car. 91 civic dx, now the gauge is steady at 1/3 so try that. good luck.

 

hey man i almost have the same plm when i press my brakes why does my rpm goes up a,lil ? bump for info