after not having the temp gauge wire hooked up to the sensor, i hooked it up and now when i start the car the needles goes all the way to hot in a matter of seconds, if i shut it off and turn it to the on position the needles goes right back up? could my temp sensor be shot? i put a multimeter to the sensors positive and it reads .52 at idle..if im correct below that means i really am overheating?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eth0r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... i put a multimeter to the sensors positive and it reads .52 at idle...</TD></TR></TABLE>0.52 WHAT? Volts? Ohms? K-Ohms? Inches?

If it does this when the engine's cold, it's obviously screwed up. The actual engine can't really heat up that fast. If that wire ever shorted to ground, the gauge itself might be messed up. The Helm book says to ground that wire to check the gauge; but it warns NOT to let the gauge go all the way up or you'll damage the gauge. Leave it unplugged (protect the wire with tape) until you get it figured out.

Maybe someone can post what the resistance (ohms) of the sender is supposed to be at different temperatures. But it sounds like the sender is bad.

 

i drove the car without it hooked up, finally located the wire and it was pretty short and damaged im sure it grounded out sometime or another, i ran a new wire from the the plugs at the shock tower, ill try another cluster and see what happens.. as for the .52 reading it was volts,

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by eth0r &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">... as for the .52 reading it was volts, </TD></TR></TABLE>That sender is simply a variable resistance. If you unplug it, it should read zero volts because there's no actual source of voltage. Set your meter to measure resistance, measure from the head nearby to the electrical terminal. I'll try & remember to look up the resistance.

Don't just put in a new cluster & burn it up too. If you do that, have someone turn the key on for you. If they say the gauge is climbing, you need to unhook the wire quickly before the needle pegs.

 

For a '98/'99 Accord 4-cyl it's supposed to be:
at 133F the resistance should be 137 ohm
at 185F to 212f =&gt; 46 to 30 ohm

I don't know whether that's good for any Honda, any year???