94 5.0 temperature help?? gauge is always too hot help help help????

[ajay5605]

any help would be GREATLY appreciated

94 GT conv is running really hot according to the gauge i drive it for a few miles then the guage goes up to the "L" in normal on the gauge sometimes even past that into the red. the car now has a new thermostat (180 degrees used to have a 195) and now a new water pump and new temp sensors both the gauge sensor on the intake to the right of the dizzy and the one on the coolant line above the thermostat housing

when i drive the car it gets too hot according to the gauge but when i pull the wire off of the sensor under the hood the gauge only drops to the "N" in normal not all the way to the "C" on the right of the gauge even when the gauge says hot (which sometimes it will creep all the way up to the red line on the gauge and maybe even a lil bit past) you can open the hood and touch the upper intake and both the top and bottom radiator hoses. when you open the hood it is def not overheating i mean its warm but def not way too hot



i cannot figure this thing out. i have no exhaust in the overflow tank and now white smoke and just did an oil change and the oil looks good flushed the radiator and all looked ok so i dont think its a head gasket the only thing that isnt new is the heater core hoses and the radator

any suggestions ????????????

PLEASE HELP

 

[ajay5605]

BTW i have bled the system (let it idle with the cap off and squeeze the upper hose and the fan appears to be acting fine comes on low when it is just a lil hott and on when it is hott with the air on

 

[ajay5605]

P.S.S lol

can someone with another 94-95 GT tell me what their temp sensor OHMS is if i unplug the one connector (to the right of the Dizzy) and plug a volt meter from the top of the connector to the ground side on the battery i start with 370 OHMs then as it warms up it goes down to 15 OHMs even though the haynes book says 74 to 9.5 OHMs

what does your sensor read???

 

[HISSIN50]

You're better off getting a real gauge or means of observing temps because the stock gauge is so flakey anyhow.

You could check voltage at your ECT to see what temp the puter is seeing. The ECT should show about 0.80V at ~180*F, and about 3.0V at 70*F.

 

[ajay5605]

do you mean the sensor on the passenger side above the thermostat??

or the one to the right of the Dizzy???

which one would have those readings?

 

[HISSIN50]

The ECT is a sensor on the passenger side.

The gauge sender is on the driver's side (one wire).

You'd want to test voltage at the ECT.

 

[ajay5605]

im at .545 volts when the fan that is already on low switches to high

any suggestions

 

[HISSIN50]

That's right in the neighborhood (it's actually a little cool, at just a hair over 200*F).

High should not kick on till in the 220's.

You could try a new sender for your gauge if you wanna keep using that thing, or go with an aftermarket gauge.

 

[ajay5605]

i already changed the sender for the gauge

how do you know what the temp is?? do you have a chart or something could you email it to me??


tomorrow i will pick up an aftermarket gauge and hook it up
and maybe pull the cluster to see if i can find anything wrong with the temp gauge

if you could get me the chart or let me know how you know the actual engine temp that would be great

 

[HISSIN50]

You might wanna remove your email addy since this is a public forum. It's best to just convey them through PM's IMHO.

Ford Fuel Injection Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor (ECT)

 

[ajay5605]

wow thanks for all your help i really appreciate it

i still cant figure out why it is running hot tough i mean it shoudnt be over 200 just idling right???

 

[HISSIN50]

If it really is running that hot, it's not abnormal. Remember while simply idling (stationary) the limiting factor is the fan coming on (because there is no ambient air flow over the coil [radiator]).

The low speed fan comes on at ~208*F so right in that neighborhood is where the car will settle. Once you start moving (or modify the fan settings), then it can come down if the thermostat will allow it (i.e. a 180* is used instead of a 195*).

 

[ajay5605]

thanks a ton for all your help HISSIN50

it was that stupid stock gauge

i went to autozone and got a $17 gauge and took the car out and it never broke 210 got close then came right back down

cruising at 45 the car was just under 190

i cant believe I did all that work (Waterpump, thermostat, and flushing system twice) to find it was the stupid gauge

thanks

 

[HISSIN50]

Glad to hear it was nothing.
Your temps sound just about right.

You'll want to get yourself some real gauges to monitor other systems as well.

If you ever want to install manual fan switches, here's some info on that.

94-95 Mustangs Cooling Fans - Mustang-Tech