1997 Ford Escort

EVIL85GT

MEMBER
1997 FORD ESCORT

Electrical problem
1997 Ford Escort 4 cyl Manual

The temp gauge and fuel gauges do not always read properly.
Temp will be pegged beyond the hot scale. Engine is not hot. Verified with a thermometer in the rad. Elec fan would not kick onso I hot wired it with a relay and thermostat.
Fuel gauge reads 1/2 tank even though it is full or empty.
These symptoms will sometimes go away and all will be fine until I shut the car off and re-start it. Then they are off again.
I am thinking it is a bad ground somwhere but I cant seem to find it.
I have cleaned every ground connection I could find underthe dash and hood.
I have been able to find other people on line with the same trouble but no repairs. So I am stumped.
Hope you can help.

Thanks.

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi evil85gt,

Normally the earthing for gauges are under hood, mostly near headlght area but seems you have checked them all, the last place you need to check is the connectors and the meter connection.

Some earthing wires are bunched together and plugged into a socket and then grounded with one main wire. Check those.

At the meter connectore, look for loose plug in clips, the yare plugged in but is not firm.

One more thing to check is the meter itself. The fuel and temp gauge normally uses the same earthing point so if you see any screws on the ground circuit, unloosen and retighten them again, might help.

Good luck.