My stock temp gauge in my DA goes up all the way passed the red line as soon as i start the car. Anyone know what might cause this? I already replaced the temp sensor on the head and I tried a differenct cluster and it did the same thing. It only does this when the key is in the on possition.

 

wire not connected or a break in the circuit somewhere

 

just do a continuity test on the car and relax.

 

If the sensor wire is shorted to ground, they will do that. I've seen a couple pinched between the transmission and engine block after haveing the trans out.

 

I dont think thats it. It moves up really slow. if it was shorted it would shoot up all the way right away but its so slow it seems like its working but it just goes up all the way

 

What does it do with the key in the on possition, engine not running?

 

when the engine is cold as in not been running for more than 24 hours, the needle still goes up all the way so i would assume its faulty wiring and not an actual cooling problem. But i got out my multitester and checked everything and i cant find a problem so im stumped!

 

The dash temp gauge reading is controled by it's own sending unit. In other words, not the ECT sensor typically found below the distributor. I'm not sure of where your gauge sensor is located, but I would bet that either yours has gone bad (very low resistance) or the wire leading to it has shorted to ground. I don't have the wiring diagram, but I believe you should have 12 volts going into the gauge, and then the sending unit decreases resistance as it heats up. The increased current through the gauge causes the needle to reflect a relative temperature reading.

 

that is correct. it is a single pole sensor right next to the ect. i replaced it with a new one and it didnt help.