Engine water temp. gauge U/S

Bish

Guest
On my kontiki 640, 1997 model, the engine water temp. gauge was suddenly started reading about minus 20deg C!! No, not really, its just that the needle is now pointing straight down and does not budge when the engine is hot. First thought is that the needle is loose on its spindle, but I`m not going to try to dismantle the dash/instrument to "stick" it back on. Next thought was to fit a new auxiliary gauge on the dash somewhere but so far I haven`t found a place to screw in the sender unit. I know of kits to plug into the top hose but where do you find them?

Any help would be appreciated,

Bish
 
i would suggest finding the sender unit and either checking it or replacing it.may be on the top/back of the radiator
 
Check around the thermostat housing, look for wire connections and that will be the sensor.

Peter
 
Hi, probably not the same as you have but on my 2003 Ducato I cleared a permanently 'warm' (even when cold) reading by disconnecting and reconnecting the instrument at the dash.
Maybe worth a try.
Colin
 
Agree with Nomad. Same on my 2005 Kontiki. Took connection off sensor and when putting it back on gave it a good shake about. No problems since, about 4 years.
 
Bish said:
On my kontiki 640, 1997 model, the engine water temp. gauge was suddenly started reading about minus 20deg C!! No, not really, its just that the needle is now pointing straight down and does not budge when the engine is hot. First thought is that the needle is loose on its spindle, but I`m not going to try to dismantle the dash/instrument to "stick" it back on. Next thought was to fit a new auxiliary gauge on the dash somewhere but so far I haven`t found a place to screw in the sender unit. I know of kits to plug into the top hose but where do you find them?

Any help would be appreciated,

Bish
Click to expand...

Not a mechanic but my experience with temp gauges is they work on electric and when straight up there is no electric contact. If you are going to take a look behind the dashboard try using an electric meter on the output from the thermostat first.

In it for fun
 
Bish said:
On my kontiki 640, 1997 model, the engine water temp. gauge was suddenly started reading about minus 20deg C!! No, not really, its just that the needle is now pointing straight down and does not budge when the engine is hot. First thought is that the needle is loose on its spindle, but I`m not going to try to dismantle the dash/instrument to "stick" it back on. Next thought was to fit a new auxiliary gauge on the dash somewhere but so far I haven`t found a place to screw in the sender unit. I know of kits to plug into the top hose but where do you find them?

Any help would be appreciated,

Bish
Click to expand...

Many thanks for your comments, will try them out when I can get back to the van

Bish
 
Bish said:
Many thanks for your comments, will try them out when I can get back to the van

Bish
Click to expand...

Hi, with the aid of eHow.com, traced the fault to the sender/switch unit, screwed into the thermostat housing. Tried the Fiat agents but his screen couldn`t tell me which of two units was mine and wanted £40 before ordering one, no return either. tried the usual cheap Ducato spares web sites but no joy so far. The terminals on the sender are male spades, in the form of a " T ", Has anyone had this problem before, and if so where did you get it from.

Living in hope.........Pete
 
Bish said:
Tried the Fiat agents but his screen couldn`t tell me which of two units was mine and wanted £40 before ordering one, no return either.
Click to expand...

Disgraceful - they don't deserve your business if the Fiat spares system is unable to source the correct part.

Have you tried Eurocarparts? I have found them very helpful in the past, and I'm sure that if they provide the wrong part they WILL swap it.
 
Thanks Canalsman, will try there,

Pete
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Happened to my 3yr old ducato a few years back a common fault,
after a lot of hassle all gauge panel replaced under warranty, they cost £400 plus.
But since then read somewhere to disconnect battery 10 mins or maybe more, reconnect fingers crossed all OK
 
At last an end to the coolant sender/switch saga. I desperation I went to KEN PRICES GARAGE in Penkridge, Staffs. Ken`s staff have looked after my MOT`S, car servicing and various repairs over the years and I trust their work. Anyway, I spoke to his spares chaser, told him what was needed and he spoke to " The Man " by phone, told me the price and it was in my hot sticky hand 90mins later! And it was £20 cheaper that the Fiat quote. The supplier was a company called INTERMOTOR

Thanks again for the advice given by several,

Pete
 
temp. gauge problem

Apparently this is a well known problem on the fiat ducato as well as many other models,usually, if the needle is pointing straight down it's usually the sender
unit,mine was just errattic,it would read hot in the red as soon as i switched the ignition on,however it was some 18 months or so before the problem rectified
itself whilst having a stainless exhaust fitted to my ducato it caused a power surge and it appears this cleared it,but if you disconnect the multi-plug connect
-ors on the rear of the instrument panel this will sometimes rectify an errattic gauge also cleaning the electrical contacts and cleaning and replacing the relev
-ant fuses with decent quality fuses sometimes does the trick,hope this helps. gwyntaxi.
 
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