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Hi guys, i have been around the forums for a while now..

I have a question, i have a 97 civic ex. my temperature isn't reading anything. how do i fix this?

 
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hello! most likely you have a problem with gauge cluster. it prolly is not the engine coolant temp sensor since then your car would not be running right. or it may be a loose wire going to the gauge cluster from the sensor.

 
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Thanks for the input.

how should i try to fix this problem? open the cluster?

 
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welcome!...

 
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try and take off the bezel surrounding the cluster and see whats going on with the connectors. are they loose, do the wires feel tight, etc. could just be a simple fix. otherwise, you are gonna need to replace the whole cluster. which means you need to try and find a used one that works and has the same or similar mileage as your car (unless you dont care). usually ebay is a good starting point. you could also just buy a cheap cluster to test and if the temp starts working again, you know cluster went bad.

 
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It may not be necessary to change the whole cluster. You can replace just the fuel/temp dial.

 
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where is that located?

 
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Not so.

There are a total of 3 coolant temp sensors so it's possible for your gauge sensor to be bad and the engine can still be running fine.

1 for the gauge
1 for the ECU to run the engine
1 to turn the cooling fan on and off

So it is worthwhile to replace the sensor. It is located on the cylinder head under the distributor next to the one that runs the engine. It is a single pin sensor and is the smaller of the 2. I might have a couple extra, if you want one send me a PM.

The fuel/temp dial is in the cluster. You would remove the cluster and just replace that part.

 
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the fan sensor has nothing to do with anything except turning the fan on and off. the ect sensor is for both the ecu and the gauges. i dont know of any other temp sensor, unless the older civics had an extra one. on the newer civics, disconnecting the ect will cause the temp dial to stop working. if the ect was bad, the car would have problems running as well. they usually never go bad due to the simple design.

 
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No the ECU and gauge coolant temps are separate sensors as I mentioned earlier. This is how it works on the 96-00 Civics. It doesn't matter how it works on newer Civics, the OP has a 97 EX. I have seen both sensors go bad. The design is simple but over time hard water sediments in the coolant collect on the sensor and cause it malfunction.

 
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the sensor turned off after my mechanic replaced my radiator. i would go back to him but he closed down his shop. =[


another question: might be a noob questions but....is my civic ex, vtec? i tried researching about it but im not sure. my engine doesnt say its vtec.

 
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All USDM 96-00 Civic EXs came with VTEC.