first of all, i bought a greddy water temp gauge (60mm white face) from a dude in the fd section and i installed it in the lower radiator hose (is this a bad spot?)

anyways, the needle on the gauge sits at like the opposite end of the needle when i turn the car on and it never moves. i tried disconnecting the temp sensor and nothing changes... if i have the car off and turn the key to ON, the gauge jumps over from being at about 300* over to the opposite (wrong) side of the needle...

could this be something that i'm doing wrong or did i get ripped off?

 

Double check your wiring...

Lower rad hose is OK, as long as you realize that it's probably the coolest spot in the system...

 

well any temp reading would be better than what i have now, which is the S5 reading (with the cold, middle, rebuild readings)

 

The upper hose would prolly be a better spot, if you just have to put the sensor on a hose...

Get that wiring figured out yet?

 

Dude, you're constantly on here bitching about one thing or another. IF you had long hair you might make a good woman. Bitch, whine, moan and ****.





You DO have the sending unit GROUNDED don't you? The metal threads/body have to be grounded for the gauge to work.

 

haha, Kevin go spiel that **** in the lounge

is this the Greddy temp gauge with peak/hold memory features? looks like a pretty sweet gauge for the price. let us know how it works if you ever get it figured out...

 

Uh, I wouldn't do this.
This is about the worst place you can put it.
You're basically measuring the coolant after the radiator has cooled it down.
This means if you're going to get any numbers that should alarm you, it would be basically too late to react.
If the radiator were to get clogged, then it's even more disastrous.

Water temp sensors should be plumbed into the hottest part of the cooling system.
This will tell you the quickest when you're in trouble.
Almost all guidelines in terms of water temp gauge numbers are for hottest part of the cooling system.
At least move it to the upper radiator hose...


-Ted

 

I know, Ted- I should have used a stronger warning than just "as long as you realize it's the coolest spot in the system..."

 

If you read the instruction or searched, it will tell you to ground the sensor. That's why it's acting fucked.

 

Wiat.. you have it in the HOSE or in the metal part?? You need to have one connection to the senosr and one grounded... either you have the wires reversed or the ground isn't correct

 

omg ********, i have tried to ground the ******* sensor, its installed in an aluminum anoidized
tee.

and ted, i'm aware that the lower radiator hose is a bad spot for a coolant temp sensor, thanks for the very enlightening post once again.

 

If the TEE isn't grounded, it still doesnt make a damn.

******** huh? If you know so damned much why the hell are you asking US what to do? Besides, I'd rather be an *******, than a whole ***

 

Adonizing = insulation

 

strange thats the first time I've heard of installing it in the hose, do you have pics? not that I would do it on the bottom hose but maybe a little easier to install on the upper hose. Where does one usually tap in at?? at the water pump???

 

water pump housing.

 

ahhh I need to get a water temp gauge.

 

there are two wires that come off of the sensor. they are connected to a two prong plug that connects straight to to gauge. i have tried running a ground wire to the sensor and i've tried running a ground wire to the tee; nothing changes.

 

You've got a have a power and a ground, in your case also at least one signal wire. Is the gauge supposed to be grounded through its mounting?

 

I have seen this problem repeatedly with several Greddy water temp gauges and my own Greddy fuel pressure gauge. The problem is not in the grounding, its in the gauge itself. You'll notice that if you get the sensor location sorted out, and you get in the neighborhood of 80c or so, the needle will flip back over and you will get an accurate reading until you shut off the car. Then depending on your luck, it will either flip back to max hot or drop down to the correct spot.

One thing that I have not done with my own setup (it doesn't do it that much) is hook up the red & orange wires EXACTLY. I tied them together and feed them with switched power. IIRC the red wire is for switched power and orange is hot at all times. Considering that when you cut power to the gauge it randomly chooses which side to drop the needle to, having the orange wire hooked up may pull it back to the right side.

 

Oh, this is not recommended.
I used to do this just to test everything out, but I would not recommend doing this as a permanent install.
Basically, you're resetting the whole thing every time you turn it on.
There might be a self-test everytime it loses all power, and this is probably what you're seeing.


-Ted

 

I'm pretty sure its something like that, however they are just the basic Greddy gauges, no peak & hold or anything like that. And as mine doesn't do it too much, I haven't had the desire to take apart my center console to get to the wiring. But this may fix the problem that the original poster described.