Thread: under power my temp sensor jumps up and down

ok well i'm getting it tuned in and just got back from running it up and down the street and noticed when i lay into it the temp gauge drops from 1/2 way up on the gauge to about an 1/8 back up to 1/2 then down to 1/4. does this mean the temp sensor is bad or is there something else? its a 93 Sentra SE-R with a HotShot cai and just the cat back for now. never seen a NA motor jump around like this before. also i don't have any codes or a check engine light. that's the confusing part. thanks

Does it jump fast or slow, when I bought my 200sx the gague jumped around fast and it ended up being the gague sender prong was loose and when I touched it the wire broke off, try replacing that, its the single wire sender, anyway the stock gague isn't very acurate it doesent have any numbers to go by

any help?

This is the answer 95% of the time. I just convert to an alligator clip.

maybe air in the system? could be bubbles flowing over the sensor casusing it to drop like that.

^thats what i was thinking or low coolant levels

coolant level is good. it jumps pretty quickly so i'll check the wire and see if that is the problem.

Its loose

mine does the same need new sensor..