Temp light on!

[Mojave Red]

Hey Guys

My engine temp light is coming on at just over 200 degrees as registered by my after-market temp gauge. The light stays on even after my gauge came back down to 190ish. I know the light isn't supposed to come on until around 240. There are no other signs of overheating. My guess is that the sensor has gone bad. My question: is how often do these things go bad? It’s a little disconcerting to see that red light shinning brightly...

Your thoughts?

TM, Brian

 

[argve]

unplug the wire - no just kidding... Typically they don't fail - I would just replace it.

 

[icanfixall]

My guess is the temp switch is bad like already said. Its the large switch in the front of the drivers side head. Its normally open but at 242 deg it closes ******* the dash gage and causing the lite to come on. Also, its expensive too.

 

[Mojave Red]

I would be content to just unplug the thing and continue to monitor my gauge. Prudent? Why the need for redundancy?

 

[icanfixall]

Redundancy... Fords idea of a backup system for the crappy factory gage setup.... Thats my guess.

 

[tonkadoctor]

I would be content to just unplug the thing and continue to monitor my gauge. Prudent? Why the need for redundancy?

Because your average Joe/Jane won't monitor the gauges every 10 - 15 seconds as required without the lights when they're watching the other thousands of things on the road. The redundant light is a visual clue as to "OH ****, somethings wrong".

Aircraft, race cars military vehicles etc have both gauges and lights.

You can easily tap a warning light sending unit into a mechanical gauge hookup by installing a Tee and running the factory idiot light into it. You can also get them in different temp ranges. http://store.summitracing.com/egnsearch.asp?N=4294925228+4294839076+115+4294845483

A $20 warning light sending unit that actually goes off early enough to save your several thousand $$$ diesel engine + peace of mind = Priceless

 

[pafixitman]

Brian,
That is where I connected my water temp gauge! I trust my gauge, not Ford's dash light.

 

[Mojave Red]

I'll replace the sender. I had an over-heating scare a couple of years ago. Since then, I monitor my gauges almost continuously. I posted this just to see if anyone had a similar experience or knew if this was an indicator of something worse.

thanks, Brian