1990 Civic DX Temp Gauge Problems?

PSAWCH1

MEMBER
1990 HONDA CIVIC

About a week ago I noticed the coolant temp gauge needle bouncing around a bit. I had recently had the clutch replaced so I figured they knocked the wires loose from the sensor or something. I played w/ it, and there seemed to be continuity. When I jumped back in and fired it up, everytime I hit the gas, the temp needle would go up! As it came back down to idle, the needle would lower back to C. Hit the gas, back up to H. I replaced the sensor, the wiring between the sensor to the harness, and did a rad drain, flush and refill (I promise there is no bubbles in there). Now, the temp gauge just reads C all the time. Won't even budge. No check engine light. Never had a problem w/ overheating before, but summer is coming up and I'd like to know if this is the year my car decideds to start overheating. What do I do/replace next?

2 Replies

BRUCE HUNT

MECHANIC
3,753 POSTS

First I would check any and all grounds on the car. Then your next thought should be to consider replacing the gauge.

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Wednesday, April 7th, 2021 AT 12:18 PM

PSAWCH1

MEMBER
3 POSTS

I have waaay overcompensated my grounding since I put in a semi decent stereo in a couple years back. I've got 2 additional ground lines running from battery to engine and bat to body. The ground to the engine isn't too far from where the sensor is located. So I replaced the cluster works great.