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Post by phorbiuz on Jul 23, 2014 11:09:50 GMT 1
I'm having a bit of a problem with my temp reading. Any opinions/advice appreciated.
Up until a week or so ago the gauge would always read somewhere between 1/2 and 2/3. I noticed the exhaust manifold was blowing slightly and as the back box was also on the way out I took the replace the whole exhaust and replaced the manifold gaskets.
Now, the temp gauge never gets past the minimum first mark on the gauge.
Thinking at first maybe the sender had packed up I ground the wire and the gauge went to max which says to me the gauge and wiring side is OK. I replaced the sender. Same problem.
Maybe I had a stuck open thermostat? Replaced and topped up with coolant. Same problem.
The heaters get nice and toasty hot, the top hose stays 'cool' on startup for a while before then getting hotter. Bottom hose much cooler than the top but gets warmer after the top hose lets the hot water in. Heater pipes both hot fairly quick.
If the pump had gone, or the rad was blocked, or even an air bubble somewhere surely it'd overheat? If the resistor was kaput then isn't the fuel gauge shared with it so that would also be false?
Input appreciated please as it's now getting past my technical level.
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Post by jonochap on Jul 23, 2014 14:08:44 GMT 1
Try leaving it running, the gauge may rise...if the fan cuts in its fine and maybe the new gaskets have stopped you overheating mine sits just out of red a majority of the time If its not broken...I can break it!
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Post by dodgerover on Jul 23, 2014 14:29:07 GMT 1
It could be a co-incidence with sorting the exhaust out, is your petrol gauge behaving itself? Also check the earth connections to the engine - lower reading = higher resistance (although i doubt thats it) I bought one of the IR temperature gauges to check what temperature mine runs at in the end - i've given up a bit with trying to get the gauge to read correctly the one on the instrument panel doesn't work and the other one thats still fitted from when mine had a tacho (looks like its from a Ford Cargo) never moves much from the bottom.
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Post by phorbiuz on Jul 23, 2014 15:22:31 GMT 1
Yeah, fuel gauge is fine which shares the voltage stabilizer. Doesn't matter how long it runs for it stays right near the absolute cold level, tho if I take it on a motorway blast it gets to the first line of the minimum mark. Resistance-wise if I ground the wire/cap that goes onto the temp sender it will go all the way to maximum, so that says the wiring side is OK in my book. It's as though the temp sender side is wrong but I've replaced it with a new one and still nothing. Everything seems fine, but it's beginning to take the urine now as I like things to work properly.
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Post by corktina on Jul 23, 2014 18:30:52 GMT 1
maybe the temp was abnormal before and is normal now. I've had stacks of Fords where the temp hardly rises at all.
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Post by dodgerover on Jul 23, 2014 19:29:25 GMT 1
Does yours have a viscous fan or an electric one, to be honest it sounds like it behaves pretty much like mine does - the only time it shifts is pushing it down the motorway or getting stuck in traffic for hours on end.
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Post by phorbiuz on Jul 23, 2014 19:53:48 GMT 1
Viscous. I am wondering whether it might be sticking on and overcooling, but then the stat would close again which it doesn't. Even bought a winter stat at 92 deg to see if it made any difference.
Next thing to try is different clocks with a different gauge but I only have Cortina mk3 and mk4 clocks which I believe don't work without modifications (which I don't know).
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Post by dodgerover on Jul 23, 2014 20:01:13 GMT 1
Lash out £9 on a IR digital thermometer then you'll know if it is the gauge or if it is running cold.
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Post by muttleymk2 on Jul 23, 2014 21:45:38 GMT 1
So you want an accurate temp gauge? Don't buy an old Transit then Seriously, we have 5 on the road at the moment and no 2 give the same reading, the gauge is a pretty cheap piece of kit and can never be relied on to be accurate. Sad but true, if you want accurate then buy a Durite temp gauge with sender and you will be reliably informed of the temp of your engine
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Post by phorbiuz on Jul 24, 2014 11:13:07 GMT 1
It's just miffing me off that something that was working perfectly well stops working after I change an exhaust. I'd obviously prefer to know if the temp is getting too hot one day.
I sense a thread coming up soon asking what wiring adjustments to make to put Cortina clocks in, just to test the gauge itself....
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Post by bobdragon12 on Jul 24, 2014 16:01:36 GMT 1
Puting in Cortina gauges is easy its just a case of movimg a few pins around . I could never get the rev counter to work
Sent from my GT-I9500 using proboards
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Post by phorbiuz on Jul 24, 2014 20:27:14 GMT 1
And that thread may just have turned into a pm message instead to bobdragon12.
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Post by rustwidow on Jul 24, 2014 22:19:45 GMT 1
And that thread may just have turned into a pm message instead to bobdragon12. Rofl yup, but you should share the gems of wisdom lol My old Ford ain't dead yet, some fool keeps repairing it!
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Post by phorbiuz on Sept 9, 2014 10:50:17 GMT 1
Time to update this with a bit more info, just in case there's any more input. So the temp gauge still isn't working, or is it.... You may have seen a different thread I put up about fitting aftermarket gauges? One of these was a mechanical water temp gauge which plumbs into a t-piece in the rad top hose. With this gauge in place and running the engine again the new gauge gave a reading of 60 to 70 degrees at idle after about 15 mins, happily staying there. Transit temp gauge didn't move. This made me think that maybe the Transit gauge is working, it just doesn't get to the right resistance level for the needle to move on the clocks. Maybe The clock gauge reads between 70 and 120 degrees for instance? So... Partially covered up the rad and the new mechanical gauge can read in the 80's. Transit gauge moves a tiny bit off minimum. Top hose hot to touch, bottom hose hot but quite a bit cooler (as you'd expect). I think it's definitely over-cooling. 3 different thermostats have been used (original, new old stock out of my garage, and brand new 92 degree from the factors) with the same result so it's not a stuck open stat. I've also tried 3 different senders in the block. Nothing made a difference and 3 stats and 3 senders all being faulty is extremely unlikely. To complicate it for myself my van has an aftermarket dual core high flow Toyota rad with expansion bottle. I'm wondering whether this could be too good, although why it used to be fine and now over-cools after working on the exhaust and manifold is beyond me. Maybe a bit of blockage finally gave way, who knows? I'd expect a stat to regulate this anyway but hey-ho. I think I now need to put an original rad back in next, but as it did a 60 mile motorway run at 70mph (SatNav reading) at the weekend and never went above mid 80's on the new gauge I don't think I have to worry just yet. Niggly things like this really bug me tho.
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Post by dodgerover on Sept 9, 2014 18:32:43 GMT 1
I think when I looked it up the correct running temp for the pinto was mid 80's? The viscous fan sounds like it could be overcooling it - after all its designed to keep a hardworking commercial vehicle at a normal running temperature? Mine has the tacho type water temp gauge fitted (the original gauge is broken) and it never moves unless you are on a hard motorway run when it almost approaches cold. By the way does your rad have shrouds around the fan - they run much cooler with them fitted. As a quick test you could always try a brief run with the fan off and see what temperature it runs at. As you said though it should be controlled to a large degree by the thermostat.
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