While driving home two days ago I noticed my temp gauge start rising much quicker than the engine could possibly heat up (cool to pegged in about 5 seconds). It wobbled around on its way to pegging as far clockwise as it would go. On the left side of the speedo and tach a red "check gauges" is illuminated.

The engine does not appear to be overheating. The car ran great for another half hour on that trip. I started it up normally today to see if it was still having troubles and it starts as always but the gauge is still pegged.

Anyone had this problem? Thanks in advance!

 

Could be your lead to the sensor in the driver's head is grounding out. It is connected here: http://shbox.com/1/temp_sensor2.jpg

You can verify your engine temp with a scanner. The check gauges light is on because of the pegged temp gauge. It is just a reminder to do what it says.

 

Hey three cheers for Shoebox!!!

I found worn insulation on the green wire running from the sensor shown in the photo from your link. It was about 8" away from the sensor where the wire ran behind the smog plumbing so the copper wire was shorting to the metal smog pipe.

I put some fresh corrugated plastic insulation material over the bare wire and taped it up again with electrical tape and the temp gauge works perfectly again.

Thanks!!!!

 

The easy fixes are the best.

Thanks for the website support.