I have an Autometer Water Temp gauge installed on the steering column. I have one wire for the sender running from the engine bay. 2 ground wires for the gauge (gauge ground and light ground) both grounded behind the driver's side kick panel. The other 2 wires which are for power are jumped in the fuse box.

About two weeks ago, I had removed some crap from under the hood to replace some vacuum lines, repaint a few things, do some other cleaning etc... Nothing really to do with the cooling system at all.

After I put everything back, I turned the car to ACC (not even cranking) and the temp gauge shot all the way to end (past 250F).

The only thing that was out of my control while all the parts were laying on the garage floor was my wife playing with our 2 month old daughter in the driver seat while I was working on the car.

I checked the grounds and other wires, everything seems just fine. The gauge is getting power, obviously, and the grounds are still solid.

The question, did the sender get shorted out somehow? I don't mind buying a new one if that's the problem, I've just never encountered something like this before....

Any help would be great!

 

Nevermind. The problem seemed to fix itself...