Bad temperature sender? Also, gauge question.

[Mastapip]

I did some searches and I think i found one person who has had this problem before....

The other day, my car started randomly having temperature spikes. And when I say spike, i mean it will shoot up to the red, and back down to normal in the span of 1-2 seconds... Not enough time for it to realistically overheat and cool down. One time it happened while doing a U-turn, other times it has happened while accelerating (like around 3k rpms).

There are no telltale signs of overheating. Also, coolant is clean, Fluidyne radiator, and a thermostat that is less than a year old. I think currently there IS air in the system (waterfall sound) but I've had air in the system before and never had this problem. I know the stock temp gauge is awful, so my thought is that something has gone bad in it.

So I've been shopping around and considering going with some pro sport gauges. I'm thinking a new oil pressure, water temp, and boost gauge would be best. Also, I'm betting I should get electrical gauges right?

Any thoughts on these gauges? I've searched and not found anyone complaining about their quality for the most part.

 

[levirolla]

did you check the radiator cap.

 

[Mastapip]

For leaks? the first few times it happened i jumped out and opened the hood... No visible signs of coolant leaking, and no noise or anything coming from the cap.

 

[ben1984j]

I would bleed the cooling system first, just to rule that out...

Personally haven't heard about any problems with the Pro Sport gauges...

 

[jdub]

Have you looked in the radiator after it cooled down to see if it was full?
(just a novel idea)

 

[Mastapip]

Yes I had looked in the radiator... Burped the system a few weeks ago, and it didn't solve the problem....

I'm bumping this thread because I figured out something interesting today.

Whenever I'm coasting downhill, or if I hit the brakes (usually happens at higher speeds) is when the temperature gauge acts wonky. Today to test it, several times, I tapped the brakes on the freeway, and every time I did, my gauge shot up and down quickly...

Would this perhaps mean that some of the mechanical parts in the gauge are malfunctioning?

 

[SUPERIUM]

I ran into the same issue a few days ago but it would go from 1/2 to 1/8 constantly while driving. I checked the sensors/connectors that go to the thermostat housing made sure they were nice and snug and that fixed it.

 

[suprasom]

I hope this get solved I'm having the same problem

 

[Mastapip]

A friend looked at it with me yesterday. We figured out that the connector for the coolant temp sensor that hooks up to the thermostat housing was going out... we fiddled around with it, and the temp shot up to above redline. Dead giveaway was that when you disconnect it, it goes to redline.

Gonna order the part tomorrow, and if that fixes the problem i'll post it in here.

 

[KicknAsphlt]

My 87 did that after a while. It was weird, I'd start banking left with the road on my way to work, and it'd jump up a bit....straighten back out, and it'd go back to normal. It did that for a while...Never did figure out the cause though, some bitch pulled out in front of me and I T-boned her doing 40....lol.