Thread: Here we go again

Ok, a few weeks ago, I thought I was having a cooling problem because the temp gauge was acting up. Changed all of the sensors, new thermister, etc etc.. Driving home last night and I noticed the needle was jumping with changes in voltage whether I was hitting the brakes, turn signals, the needle was slightly bouncing to the music too.. This morning the car was bucking and hesitating as if my MAF was experiencing problems..

I'm guessing I have some kind of electrical gremlin haunting my car. Any tips on where I should start to track this problem down?

Check you grounds, particularly the ground on the thermostat housing.

the only ground wire there is the one from the starter.. Am I missing one? I'll search for a diagram

There should also be a body ground shouldn't there?

Your neg battery cable goes directly to a body ground and follows to the t-stat aswell.

Your coolant gauge in the cluster is a seperate problem, unplug it and trace for a broken or fray wire there. Its a common problem.

that still doesn't explain the other issue I am dealing with.
I'll trace the wire first and see if there are any issues with it.

here's another clue... just got back from my morning errands, shut the car off, open the door, the temp gauge shoots up to the top, shut the door, it drops back down...

WHAT DA??

Is that repeatable? I can tell you that when the temp gauge shoots up like that it means that the signal wire is grounding out somewhere.

I see in your sig that you have a swapped SR20, I'm guessing the car was originally a GA16? Have you always had problems with the coolant temp gauge?

Also pardon my ignorance on the swap but which gauge cluster are you using SR20 or GA16?

you have a posi wire slappin the chassis.... notice its under vibration an movement.. anyhting with lighting wires, bumper lights, radio wires... anything that youve touched in the last 6 months.. recheck it.. also any wire dealing with aftermarket gauges.

or ur altenator... jmo.......