Temp Gauge

[Boarder_X]

Ok, so I got my boat running last week, after replacing the fuel pump. Now the temp gauge doesn't seem to be working. After it idles for a while, the needle starts to move, and then it drops down to the bottom. If I turn the motor off, and then start it back up, the needle will go to the middle (180??) for a sec, and then drop back to the bottom.

My question is: Is this a problem with the water temp sensor, or water temp sender? How can I trouble shoot? If I hook a multimeter to the gauge in the back, if there is no current coming through the wire, can I assume it is the sender?

Thanks,

Robb

[bigairsteve]

temp guage

Check to make sure you have a good ground to the guage. Thats the first thing you wanna check before you get into testing if its the sensor or not. 90% of the time its a ground issue.

[Boarder_X]

My gauge is part of a 4 gauge set. All the smaller gauges have a common ground. It seems to be on solidly, and the other gauges work fine.

Another thing. While trying to figure out what is wrong with my TAPS, I found a ground wire that was just hanging there. I could see the scratches on it where it used to be screwed on. It was the lead from a breaker. I do not know where it goes to. I couldn't find anything that was missing a ground wire. Should I worry about it? Should I just connect it to the ground plate just in case? However, it is too short for that, so I will have to replace it.

[Tip]

I have the same 4 in 1 gauge in my 22v and the temp indicator has never been right since I bought the boat new 3 years ago.

[gman]

Tip, did you ever take it back to get fixed under warranty?

[bigairsteve]

Robb how old is your boat? When on a lake are you running it for awhile at various speeds to see if the guage moves or are you running it just in idle. Sometimes the temp guage wont move much until you run it awhile, also if you run it on a hose it usually wont show much movement, but if your on a lake it should move as usual.

[Boarder_X]

I was just running it on the hose. I thought before it had shown some movement. ... Maybe not.

The thing is, it got up to the middle, then it just dropped down to nothing. I turned the boat off, and then started it back up. It went back to the middle for a few seconds, then back down to the bottom.

It's an 03

[Tip]

Mine is also an 03. I went round and round with my dealer and he was never able to fix it. My dealer had such a bad reputation he went out of business last year, so now I'm on my own.

[Boarder_X]

Andrew, Lee, MD... Anyone?

If I get my boat out on the water, and the temp gauge is messed up, how do I go about getting a new cluster? Mine has a blue face, and has the fuel, volts, oil pressure, and temp all in one. I realize I will have to pay for it, but where do I order it?

Thanks,

Robb

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Boarder_X
Andrew, Lee, MD... Anyone?

If I get my boat out on the water, and the temp gauge is messed up, how do I go about getting a new cluster? Mine has a blue face, and has the fuel, volts, oil pressure, and temp all in one. I realize I will have to pay for it, but where do I order it?

Thanks,

Robb

Who was your dealer? If there is not one there give me a call. 325-676-7777

Andrew

[bigairsteve]

Tip do you know what your dealer tried to do to correct yours? Does it move at all, or just stay all the way down?

[bigairsteve]

Hey Robb

i would bet that its going to work fine in the water. let me know what happens though I am interested in finding out.

[whitlock87]

This might sound stupid, but make sure the ground on the engine and the ground for the gage are the same.

If the temp switch has one wire on it, then if you ground it, the gage should read all the way over.

I have seen it when people have two batteries, where they forgot to tie the grounds together and things stop working. (DC goes from the battery through a load and needs to end up back at the battery it started at.)

[Tip]

That's a good idea, I have two batteries so I wonder if that's my problem?

I'll check it.

[Boarder_X]

Whitlock.

Everything you said, makes sense, and is electrically sound. However, why would the temp gauge be the only one that is messed up? Like I said, it is part of a 4 gauge set. The other "mini gauges" in that set work fine. .. The other gauges in the dash work fine, and all are tied to the ground plate under the dash.

I'm not saying you are wrong!!!.. I'm just not completely following you. Sorry if this made it worse.

However, I will make sure there is a common ground between the engine, the ground plate, and the batteries.