Rep Power: 0

I noticed the other day my water temperature gauge is inoperable. I don't know how long it's been, cause most of my driving is short-range where the motor doesn't heat up anyways. But I drove down to College Station the other day, and the gauge stayed pegged at the bottom for the whole trip. I know our radiators are good, but not that good.

I've been working on my instrument cluster, so it may be a bad connection. Is there any way to test it out once I reconnect the wires, aside from driving around for a while to heat up the engine? I was hoping there'd be some kind of trick to see if it's working or not.

Oh, and my Mx Req. light just started coming on at every startup. I don't know if the two are related or not, but whatever.



Jake

 
Rep Power: 811

well its hard to say. you might have a broken thermostat and the gauge really is working. what did you play with the cluster? what year is it, 01-02 or 03-05 style? to turn off the maint light just hold the tripmeter down and then turn car to on position, then let go of the button after 20 secs. should go away.

 
Rep Power: 452

to test the IC, push and hold the trip/reset button. turn the lighting switch on. turn the ignition on. within 5 sec. turn the lighting switch off, then on, then off again. and within 5 sec, release the trip/reset button, then push and release it 4 times repeatedly. this will test the gauges. you should see all 4 of them sweep from stop to stop. If the temp gauge doesnt sweep, you need a new IC. if it does sweep, I would suspect the thermostat.

to physically test the thermostat, remove it and place it in hot water or boiling water and see if it opens. if it doesnt, its bad.

 
Rep Power: 424

The T stat does not give the gauge a reading. The t-stat is purely mechanical.You need to just replace the temp switch. Its one of the 2 sensors over in the vacinity of the T-stat. (the other is the rad. fan switch). If you want to see if its reading anything, get an OBD scanner, and plug it in, stream the data to the handheld and see if anything registers.

 
Rep Power: 0

You say you were playing with the cluster. Did you play with the face at all. (take the clear cover off, take any needles off)?? I had my needles off once and put them on to far and they were hitting the face (with the numbers). This made it so they couldn't move. If you have, they may be on to far. Either they were installed on to far, or got bumped on farther. Something to check out before buying a new one.

Just my $0.02
-utah

 
Rep Power: 452

I dont know why I said thermostat. stupid me.

But there is a procedure for troubleshooting the coolant gauge if the IC is ok.

 
Rep Power: 0

streetglower:

Dude, you're amazing. That's exactly what I was looking for. Repped.

And it's an '01 cluster. Yeah, I've taken off the face, and done much more, but all the needles move freely. All I did was remove the orange-ness of the gauges. Here's the thread: http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...d.php?t=275525

I think I know what the problem is. I just went out and tested the IC using the prescribed procedure, and the needles all sweep. The temp gauge starts later and doesn't complete a full sweep, so I think the needle is not properly aligned on the post, if that makes any sense. Not sure how I managed to do that, but I know how to fix it, at least.


Jake

 
Rep Power: 0

ECT sensor is on the top of the coolant block. To go check the sensor for the temp gauge go stick a paper clip between the two wires. The gauge will pin all the way up if the cluster is ok. If it doesnt go up the gauge is bad.

If the ECT sensor is bad go to honda or order it online and replace it.

 
Rep Power: 0

Yeah, the gauge is fine. I just realigned all the gauges and it's all good. Just out of curiosity, and to eliminate any other variables, what's the procedure for troubleshooting the coolant gauge? I'd like to go ahead and do that if it's something I can do at home.

 
Rep Power: 246

Just tried your little gauge sweep trick, that is HOT!!!! Never knew you could do that. So if my mph gauge doesnt move it is bad, right? REP!!!!!
But the gauge works here and there, any suggestions. It kind of flickers a little but wont go up, just goes down real slow once i get going, if it is working, crazy!!!!

 
Rep Power: 0

ECT sensor is on the top of the coolant block. To go check the sensor for the temp gauge go stick a paper clip between the two wires. The gauge will pin all the way up if the cluster is ok. If it doesnt go up the gauge is bad.

If the ECT sensor is bad go to honda or order it online and replace it.

The ECT sensor sends the signal for the guage. I have the wiring diagram somewhere.

 
Rep Power: 452

come to think of it, if the thermostat is stuck open, the ECT is going to record the coolant temp staying at a lower temp for awhile thus the gauge may not move high very fast. Now like stated above, the ECT could also be at fault.

As for trouble shooting it, I will get back to you in a bit. Still waking up and the procedure is long so I will post it in a bit. It involves checking for DTC in the eCM and the multiplex control unit.

 
Rep Power: 0

Alright, cool. I'll be looking forward to it.