Any known problems with a 1987 temp gauge?

[chris142]

Driving home from work last night my temperature gauge started moving around erraticly and finally fell to cold and stayed there. Temp gun shows the engine is 195f.
I grounded the wire at the sender and the gauge did not move

 

[IDIoit]

there just a glorified idiot light anyways.
maybe a sensor??
but if you want a stock one I have gauge clusters fer sale

 

[chris142]

I'd like to keep it stock.its good enough for what I do. It's not the sender in the engine. I grounded the wire and the gauge still said cold

 

[Clb]

These are the same as idiot lights.
Pull the cluster find the short.
No one is gunna tell you to "not " install a real gauge.

 

[chris142]

Where would you install a real gauge? I don't see much room.

 

[IDIoit]

im putting a tach in my hood on the next truck!

 

[ifrythings]

If all your other gauges work I would start by checking the engine wiring harness on the passenger side of the engine, it likes to get melted pretty bad from the glow plug power feed wires and is probably where you'll find the problem, after that it just goes to the firewall then to the cluster, not a hard wire to follow.

 

[79jasper]

Where would you install a real gauge? I don't see much room.

Means a aftermarket gauge. Like on the piller, under the dash, etc.
I would check the wires or the cluster.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

 

[BrianX128]

https://youtu.be/07x3NNi68eI

Sometimes the old ford gauges stick but don't totally break. See how mine fluctuate but my aftermarket ones don't?

If you don't want to put a real gauge in (and you can do this and keep the factory super easy I'll take a picture of how I did mine) try smacking the top of your dash when you know the truck is up to temp and see if that jiggles it loose. Sometimes crud accumulates where the gauges sweep and they get tired and that might be why yours isn't moving. On my 250 my oil pressure gauge will stick all the time unless I give it a little nudge but now that I have the aftermarket I quit hitting it ha.

 

[jwalterus]

Where would you install a real gauge? I don't see much room.

I hacked my dash and made a mounting plate for them in the center of it, mine had a big crack right there anyways

 

[chris142]

I tried hitting it and no change.the temp went higher than normal then dropped like a rock.then back to normal then suddenly went to cold,normal,cold normal,cold and stayed there

 

[IDIoit]

don't force it. get a bigger hammer!

 

[typ4]

pull dash, the connector might be loose. easy stuff to work on, the wire is the same color at the dash as at the sender, check for continuity, if its good, swap in a different gauge or remove and reinstall, sometimes they loose contact because there is no high current to "clean" the contacts.

 

[chris142]

I had a spare dash so I swapped the gauge out.I made sure the connections were clean. No change Somebody mentioned following the wire. I'm too stupid for that so I guess its off to a shop.

 

[IDIoit]

I had a spare dash so I swapped the gauge out.I made sure the connections were clean. No change Somebody mentioned following the wire. I'm too stupid for that so I guess its off to a shop.

for the price of a shop, you can purchase an aftermarket gauge and be better off.
relax, read, and solve your issue.
there is nothing we cant help you with.
bite the bullet, and dig in.
there are only 2-3 wires if I remember correctly.
grab an ohm meter, your phone, and get er done!
youre not stupid, just lazy!

but then again, im no one to give advice, right? @riotwarrior