The temprature guage is no working on my rs1800 i does not move from the bottom of the guage is there an easy whay to check it to see if it is the guage or the temprature sender.

 

Indeed there is my friend.

Being as yours is a zetec it has a 2pin plug (its more common to have a single wire going to the temp sender)

You need to pull the plug off the sender, and bridge a wire across the two pins within the plug. You should see the gauge go right up to the red, and if it does means the gauge is ok and the sender is at fault.

However being as its a 90's era Ford and are known for the extremely poor quality instruments they used in this time period, my money is on the gauge itself being faulty. A wiring fault could also be possible so don't overlook that

 

Done that it was the temp sender so i have changed it and is all fine now thanks.

 

 

hi, the ald ford is havn a bit of a problem, wen u start the car the temperature goes way in to the red, but if you unplug it and reconect it it reads as it shud, this is also causing the battery light to cum on!!!

ive tried the clocks n both sensors on the thermostat , and tht small section of the loom!! wat the f**k cud it be, it is the 115 ps zetec engine, any help appreciated thanks

 

Bad earth or a short on the instrument cluster would be my first guess, sounds like something is back feeding?

 

back feeding? my mate said bowt the eart but ware abowt wud u reckon

 

back feeding - if a wiring fault occurs like losing an earth, the electrical current finds alternative paths to make a circuit, a bit like when you see the rear lights on a car all glowing dimly when they brake or whatever, the earth is lost so it finds an alternative route across the other circuits and all the bulbs do strange things as a result.

I couldnt possibly comment mate, needle in a haystack. Checking the connections on the instruments themselves would probably be a good start.

 

cheers for the help

 

Did you sort it?

 

Well I might as well jump in here since this is a very similar issue I am having.

Basically, I have a 2002 focus so blacktop zetec 1.8 and temperature gauge isn't working...well when I say not working I'll explain below. It's had a brand new temp sender by the way and it still does the same thing.

This is totally random behaviour by the way, no pattern or anything just has a mind of it's own.

SCENARIO 1:
Go into car, ignition on, wait for pump, lights etc and the gauge will not move. It's supposed to make it's way up towards the small white block on the focus temp gauge (cold) so move about 2mm or so from it's rest position. Most of the time it does this and will not read for the entire journey. HOWEVER, if I then am driving for say 10-15mins, if I turn ignition off and restart the car, it goes up to halfway, where it should be.

SCENARIO 2:
Go into car, wait for pump, lights etc, and the gauge moves, as it is supposed to the white block at the beginning of the gauge (cold). It will then either stick there and refuse to read for the entire journey OR will read up to a certain point which can be ANYWHERE in between cold and halfway. So will be reading and moving up as the car warms up but get stuck when it feels like it. Again if I turn ignition off and restart the car, it will read as it should and be at halfway.

SCENARIO 3:
Car is fully warmed up and I am driving around. I come to park, leave the car, do what I need to do and get back to it within say 30mins-1hr. So temperature of engine obviously isn't at normal operating temp yet. So when I get into the car it should show somewhere between halfway and cold, which it does and ALWAYS does. The temperature gauge never refuses to stay stuck on its rest position if the engine is lukewarm. Then it will either begin reading and get stuck like scenario 2 or will read until halfway or will remain where it was when I started the car i.e. whatever it read when the ignition was first turned on and will stay there. If I turn ignition off and restart it will read halfway.

So............WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH IT???

Even when it's working properly I assume it is lying because it has been playing up for so long I just have lost ALL faith in it. I now NEVER trust it. I know it isn't the most accurate way of measuring coolant/head temperature but I have no way via means of a gauge of an accurate reading unless I plumb an aftermarket one in which I really do not want to do.

Help much appreciated.

 

a 2002 focus wont have anything in common with a 90's Mk3 fiesta?!!

 

I know but I just thought I'd carry on here instead of starting another one... Anybody shed any light on it though?

 

no its not sorted just now min, got the fan temporarily wired to ignition, only bn doin 2 miles a day so nae had a chance ta heat up , nae bn sitn in traffic or owt, need ta get ma finger oot tho lol