graeme647 Posted October 5, 2005 Share Posted October 5, 2005 Hi all, I just got me a M reg 1.6i 16v and noticed something yesterday, my temp guage stays on zero, no movement even when theres warm air comin through the blowers... So I've got a couple of questions... I gather from what I've read on other posts that the problem is most likely to be the temp sensor and / or sender, now I'm a bit of a car novice so I have no idea where they are or what they look like, any chance of a description so I can check em out...? Btw as I say I'm a novice so 'just left of the monofibrulating conductor flange' wont mean anything to me...! The other q is does the same thermostat run my radiator fan? if so and it is buggerd then I guess that means my engine is likely to go bang, is this the case or does it run on a seperate circut...? Cheers all... G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme647 Posted October 5, 2005 Author Share Posted October 5, 2005 Hi again... Just a little more info for you... I followed the top pipe from the radiator coolant resevoir to a little box thats on the side of the engine head held on by 3 bolts with a couple of other hoses coming out of it... On top of it is something with a nut around it (similar to a spark plug) which has a little black plastic thing on top and 2 wires coming out of it... I think the black plastic thing is the sender and the thing bolted in is the thermostat... I took the 'sender' off by prising up the clips on either side and slid it off, there are two female connectors on the 'sender' and two male on the 'thermostat'... I put a wire in the holes to effectively short them and turned on the ignition, my expected result would be that the temp guage should go up to high... Nothing happened... Does this mean that potentially I have an issue with the guage rather than anything else? I also assume that of the 2 holes in the sender that one should be + and the other - when the ignition is on, I'll check these properly with a multimeter this evening... Any info would be much apreceated... G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme647 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Ok, I've bought a Haynes manual today so tonight's gonna be a long one I think... Any help or suggestions would still be good though guys... G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katie Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 welcome to evo i cant help lol but sure someone will be along shortly that can help you out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme647 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Thanks, fingers crossed I dont blow my engine up in the meantime!!! lol... G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foxdie Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 faulty sensor. think that one costs £17 from ford. easy job. just make sure u dont brake the thermostat housing screwing in the new sensor, doesn't have to be too tight, just put some sealant on the thread before screwwing it in. Could also be:-Fault cable-Blown fuse-Dash dials fault or disconected theres a big debate about wherever or not the temp guage is run through the ECU and why its connected with the charge cable on the alternator. Its an easy fix either way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme647 Posted October 6, 2005 Author Share Posted October 6, 2005 Thanks for the info, I assuem there's some way I can test the sensor? Let me just step back a little... If I take off the black plastic plug I have 2 pins coming out of what I believe is the sensor still connected to the engine and two holes in the plug in my hand... Now I have an electronics background and this is what I'd expect to find: 1. The bit attached to the engine is most likely a glorified variable resistor, meaning it lets more current through when hot than when it is cold, so I should be able to check this with my multimeter. 2. the black plastic connector with two holes should register a current when the engine is on, it doesnt... So if the sensor is malfunctioning why is there no current over the circut anyway, surely there should be??? G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichRoberts Posted October 6, 2005 Share Posted October 6, 2005 is the top radiator hose getting hot with the rest of the pipes? Does your radiator get hot?If not then you ned a new thermostat. If there all ok, then a new sensor will sort it! Check the coolant level aswell,as i think the sensor reads from that so if its not full then it might not be getting wet! I that makes any sense Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graeme647 Posted October 7, 2005 Author Share Posted October 7, 2005 Hi, After exploring my nice shiny new Haynes manual last night I've found the following:(N.B I have a Zetec engine) My radiator fan works when connected directly. My temp gauge works when connected directly. The thermostat works or at least is open as my radiator gets hot. I have three components, firstly there is the engine temperature sensor, located on the top of the thermostat housing, then there is the coolant thermal switch, located in my radiator top hose and finally there is the temperature sensor located on the front facing side of the thermostat housing. I think that the coolant switch is malfunctioning and also the engine temp sensor / sender, I did find one strange thing though, the cable that connects to the sender uses two wires and a female plug, there is however a third wire on this loom with a rubber covered circular connector that isnt hooked on to anything, its connection is fairly oxidised but when earthed it throws my temp gauge up to the max the same as shorting the other two wires it's bundeled together with, now I'm wondering if this needs to be connected somewhere or is it just a redundant connector? I'm a bit confused as people keep telling me its the sensor / sender as it seems to me that the fan and temp gauge work off two seperate circuits, can anyone give me more info or shall I just go and replace all three components? I may go to the breakers yard tomorrow and just grab a few bits to test I think... G... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drk_red_Mk5 Posted October 7, 2005 Share Posted October 7, 2005 I did find one strange thing though, the cable that connects to the sender uses two wires and a female plug, there is however a third wire on this loom with a rubber covered circular connector that isnt hooked on to anything, its connection is fairly oxidised its a brown an white wire is it? if it is, this is on my car (zetec 1.6) . i think its used as the earth wire on the 1.4pte engine, as on the neighbours car. wasnt used on the zetecs, coz surely they cant all have come disconnected? also thers nothing for it to connect onto with the zetec engine. hope it helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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