Helping out with autometer sport comp gauge issue

[DMAN302]

Well what can you do with an autometer water temp gauge the will intermitently get stuck? Tonight after a long drive I was playing under the hood when I decided to turn the fan on at 195 to keep the temps down. Well after 5 or six minutes I became aware at the fact the temp had NOT moved a bit. Under every other situation my fan will get the car to 180 is nothin flat, so I was a bit concearned...so I tapped the gauge on the glass...AND THE NEEDLE SPRUNG BACK TO 180! seriously what possible causes asside from a bad gauge can cause the needle to hang? After this occurence the gauge worked perfectly...but looking back it has done this on occasion, can I send a two yr old unit back to autometer?
Thanks.

 

[HISSIN50]

I'd email or call and ask them for suggestions. I would not be surprised if they swap it for you gratis - they seem to do it on gauges past warranty. It seems like they're aware that excellent customer service is one thing that keeps people buying their gauges.

I've had OEM gauges that were like that - I felt like an airplane pilot tapping the gauges (had a sticky Marelli fuel gauge and a sticky guage on a crotchrocket).

That's the best I got. Good luck brah.

BTW, this will teach you to mess with something that works - you did the fan, needed a good controller, a temporary way to run the fan and now the gauge takes a poop.

Good luck!

 

[DMAN302]

Yeah your right all the way through buddy..but that fan!! holy smokes that thing could probably move the car forward (ok maybe not ) but it's quite adequate to say the least. Problems I'm seeing...when on continuously I am actually loosing voltage with the radio lights and on at idle when the engines hot for some reason..once the fan is shut off the alternator will once again begin to charge...but I will definately loose voltage with fan at full speed when the car is hot. Cold idle I'm seeing 13.5 fan off and 12.4 or so fan on..strange but Ok sinced the DCC will keep me from running full time full speed and keep the charge issue in check I'm sure. Another strange issue is when the fan is activated the Autometer gauge will jump 2-4 degrees instantly when it engages...much like factory gauges do when the lights come on....any thoughts on this? I found it strange and attribute it to mediocre Ford wiring charging system.

 

[HISSIN50]

As long as the fan will suck your pants off while you stand in front of the car, that's all that matters. 'Hey honey, come stand in front of the car.'

If your hot idle is nice and low (how I like mine), you're right - you're likely just overdrawing the system (you have a 100 amp alt, as I recall). The SN95 fan at full blast does the same to me. If I get the revs up to 1K, it's fine. Me-thinks you're right about the Baskin controller helpin that out. (it sounds like you have way more fan than you need, so you might only be running at 50-60% fan potential [made up numbers, but you see my angle]).

On the gauge (if it aint electric, we have problems), the best that I know to do is: I pull the gauge and access the back. I ohm out the ground. Do this while you flip the fan on and see if something mysteriously changes (it shouldnt and I doubt it would). You know you're dropping volts on the positive terminal, so no need to check that). But I do check the sender post - fan off and then on. If you see the number move a smidge (it will probably be less than a tenth of a volt), that can be telling. The way I see it, the fan bogs the electrical system down. If your sender voltage goes up with temps, but lowering system voltage (turnin on the fan) makes the sender read *higher*, that's a little funkalicious. In other words, I'd expect the sender voltage to mirror the charging system voltage. I'd make sure the sender is well-grounded (ohm it out). I've had to attach a ground wire to senders before to make sure they were cleanly ground when hot and the electrical system was under load. Just use a wire with alligator clips for testing till you figure out what the fix is, then do it all pretty.

That's what came to mind. Good luck Derek.

 

[DMAN302]

You are smert...I will run through the wiring this weekend..I may 'rewire' the water gauge with new ground and see if I am to blame and will follow the excellent info you've laid out for me JT, Thanks bro I really helps! Maybe...Maybe the issues the gauge is having are somehow related to a simple wiring issue, if not I will call autometer and see if they want to help a brother out.