Temp Gauge Spike

[GVR47111K]

I noticed this problem driving home tonight and thought it was pretty odd. While in gear and rolling the temp gauge sits right in the middle of the "C" and the "H" like it should, but when I go to put the clutch in to shift or just put it in at all ( hehe /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) the temp gauge jumps way up past the "H". After I find the next gear it comes back down to the middle of the gauge. What could be causing this? I really hope I don't need any tranny/drivetrain work. Oh, also, the P.O. had just installed a fresh radiator before I bought it, if that makes a difference. Thanks in advance.

=Will V.

 

[beaner]

You're probably hella low on coolant and/or have lots of air in the system.

 

[fuel]

the feed to the temp display on the dash shows full hot when earthed out, and all the sensor does it vary the resistance to ground with having least resistance the hotter the engine is. Sounds like something is rubbing on the temp gauge wiring somewhere and earthing it out every time you use the clutch.

 

[GVR47111K]

Well I had some time tonight to check out this problem a little bit so I opened up the coolant overflow bottle and found out that the tube that goes down inside the bottle was clogged up like a mofo. It looks like it was just sediment but it definitely is better now. I also opened up the radiator cap and saw that it looked wet but couldn't really see coolant, I forgot to check it while the car was running to see if i could see the coolant flowing. I'm planning on doing a radiator flush sometime this week to see if it doesn't help but other than that and what fuel and beaner had to say about the coolant and wiring (thanks guys) I'm still lost. Thanks.

-Will V.