1997 Saturn SL1 temp gauge (on dash)

SUCCUBUS77

MEMBER
1997 SATURN SL1
4 CYL
FWD
MANUAL
22,500 MILES

Hi my tem gauge on my dash will seem to work fine, then it jumps to almost in the red, then the fan will kick on for 2-5 seconds, then the gauge will all of a sudden drop all the way down to nothing and not work at all.I replaced the thermo in it, and it is still doing it. Any ideas?

4 Replies

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

Check for faulty engine coolant temp. (ECT) sensor

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010 AT 9:06 PM

SUCCUBUS77

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3 POSTS

Thank you I will try that tomorrow

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010 AT 9:19 PM

SUCCUBUS77

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Do you happen to know how I can tell if it is bad, and where it is located?

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010 AT 9:33 PM

BLUELIGHTNIN6

MECHANIC
16,542 POSTS

It is located on the rear of the engine, pic below

With an ohmmeter just connect to the 2 contacts while it's unplugged, or with a voltmeter you can check the outgoing voltage compared to the reference (input) voltage of 5 volts, if you connect some special jumper wires that allow access without puncturing the wires. Let me know what results you get and I'll post back wether it is within specs or bad.

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Thursday, June 10th, 2010 AT 9:39 PM