hey everyone,

I have a 98 sunfire 2.2. Well last week my temperature guage stopped working and my fan kicks on within a few minutes of the car running and stays on. Im am not throwing any codes at all either. Do you think it might be the temperature sensor that is under the hood. My friend told me it could be that but i cant find where it is at. I have checked everywhere in my haynes manual too. I have a aem cold air intake, upper/lower motor mounts, obx header, bored out tb and catback exhaust. My car is not a daily driver and hasnt been driving for around 8 months but i randomly go out and start it up and finally it just started doing this. Seems like when i start the car at first it idles a little higher but that could be because my aem intake is not fully mounted on there but the iat sensor is plugged in.

Let me know of any suggestions. thanks everyone,

Josh

Disconnect the sender for the ECT. This removes the ground, it should read full hot. If the cluster does not respond to this, than you may need a new cluster, or wiring to the clutser could be damaged.

I have seen people install a bunch of @!#$ like you did and damage wiring all over the place.





- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

Let me retract part of that, it may go to full cold, the reason I'm not sure is because I know how Nissan does it, I'm not GM is the same way.


- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

well right now my cluster is reading full cold which should be correct from what i told by a friend called curtis walker who has the 91 turbo cavalier. He told me that it is a temperature sensor that is under the hood. Im just wondering if it is really called that or something else because i am not finding that in my haynes manual at all and i found prolly every other sensor.

Its called an Engine Coolant Temp sensor, but see this is what I was saying. Some cars have a Engine Coolant Temp SENSOR, and SENDER, some cars just have one, the sensor which goes to the PCM then to the cluster, where some cars have the SENDER that goes directly to the cluster, and a seperate sensor for the PCM.

So before you go any father you need to find out what your car has an doesnt have.




- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

hey rob,

I do have a engine coolant temp sensor. I was wondering if that is what i need to fix. I could easily try and do that. I just think i have a engine coolant temp sensor, not the plus sender unit.

Josh

Well if all you have is the sensor, than yes that is a good place to start.

Just to see what happens, disconnect the sensor and see if the cluster goes to full hot.



- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

rob,

I disconnected the sensor and started the car and the temperature guage stayed where it was and getting go to full hot. It stayed in the cold spot. The car was running like @!#$ too so i didnt let it run for more than a minute before i shut it off and plugged the sensor back in. Then i unplugged the sensor to test it again and without it plugged in the car didnt even want to start. So i put the sensor back in and the car started right back up but the temperature guage stayed below 0 and the fan would start running after the car was running for a few minutes. So im not sure if the sensor is good or not, what else shoudl i try.

thanks for helping me out on this too, keep posting for me if you can so i can get this thing fixed.

Josh

okay so i went out there again to double check it and now the cluster is working. Im wondering if my needle is just messed up, because a long time ago, i put a white face on it and pulled all the pins out and put them back in. Im just wondering how come it works now and i let it run til i got to the point of where the fan kicked on and that was somewhere around 180 degrees or so, or whatever degree its suppose to kick on. Im just wondering if i should look for a cluster on ebay and replace mine.

I am having a similar problem with my 97 2.2. sometimes the gauge works, others it does and sometimes it reads somewhere between dead cold and where it should be. sometimes it even waves back and forth.

I'm thinking my problem is the bias resistors in the PCM.

I am pretty sure if you replace engine coolant temp sensor, That should correct youre problem.

I personally have replaced the sensor, didn't help.

Well everyone, i went out and started the car today and im in the same boat again. The guage reads under zero or cold. Its weird how last night it was working and now this morning its not. Something is happening. Next month im turning in my lease and putting this car on the road so i have to make sure its working. Im just wondering if its the actual cluster, the engine coolant temp sensor, or if there is something wrong with teh wiring making it work sometimes and not.

"I disconnected the sensor and started the car and the temperature guage stayed where it was and getting go to full hot. It stayed in the cold spot. The car was running like @!#$ too so i didnt let it run for more than a minute before i shut it off and plugged the sensor back in. Then i unplugged the sensor to test it again and without it plugged in the car didnt even want to start. So i put the sensor back in and the car started right back up but the temperature guage stayed below 0 and the fan would start running after the car was running for a few minutes. So im not sure if the sensor is good or not, what else shoudl i try."

Okay so it didnt move even with it unplugged, that leads me to believe a cluster problem or a wiring problem.

the reason your car was running like crap, with that sensor unplugged, of it if goes way out of range the PCM will enter a fail safe mode, aka limp home, and use a subsitute condition preset from the factory, with GM it is -38F for the ECT, all the time. Odd I know, but hence the name limp home.

The next thing you can do since the cluster isnt responding at all, is a visual inspection of the wiring. If that checks out, I would replace the cluster.

You said it worked again than stopped, sounds like a possible loose connection, maybe when you installed those overlays you knocked the wiring somewhat loose for the sensor, and another bump in the road knocked it out.









- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new

yeah im ordering a new cluster on ebay today to see about swapping it and see if that fixes the problems. See my guages shouldnt really cause a problem with that, since i have a oil pressure, volt, air/fuel guage. I have had my dash apart in over a year and i doubt i yanked anything under the hood that would be causing this. I tried to start it again last night and didnt move passed zero again. It has to be either the temperature guage or the actual cluster. Looks like img oign to try the cluster first of.


//You said it worked again than stopped, sounds like a possible loose connection, maybe when you installed those overlays you knocked the wiring somewhat loose for the sensor, and another bump in the road knocked it out.


I havent even driven the car on the road in over 6 months. Its a second car for me. So theres no way it could of bumped loose on the road when it hasnt been, lol.

i had a similar problem w/ mine. i replaced the sensor and it still did it. come to find out the harness that plugs into the sensor, there was a broken wire in there causing the gauge to act funny

[quote=ßãggéÐÇåv98 (Ûñqùðtäߣè Øñé)]i had a similar problem w/ mine. i replaced the sensor and it still did it. come to find out the harness that plugs into the sensor, there was a broken wire in there causing the gauge to act funny

i checked the plug sensor and it doesnt show anywhere wear or broken pieces on it. I even check where it plugs in the engine coolant temp sensor and that is fine too. No bent pins or missing pins.

well i just won a cluster last night on ebay for $10 + 11 shipping from a 97 sunfire with 47k miles. Im goign to try and swap that in and see what happens. I dont see any damage to the wire anywhere from looking at it. If the cluster doesnt fix it then i will swap out the engine coolant temp sensor. Then if that doesnt fix it, then it has to be the wire going to the pcm. I will keep you guys updated and let you know what fixes it.

ok guys here a update with my car. I bought a new cluster from ebay and installed it tonight and the temperature gauge still isnt working. Tommorow im going to pull the sensor off and replace it to see if that fixes it. If it doesnt what else should i look for. Is there anything else besides saying it is in the wiring.

thanks everyone for helping me out.

well i went to autozone tonight and got a engine coolant sensor unit and came home and installed it and it fixed it my problem. When i pulled the old engine coolant temp sensor off i lost a little coolant but i just readded some to the overflow tank to the full cold. So everything is working on my car now. I did replace my cluster too which didnt fix the problem so it was the sensor all along.

THANKS EVERYBODY FOR HELPING ME WITH THIS.