Water Temp Gauge freaking out? (vid included)

[ZenkiS14]

Ok, so recently my temp gauge inside my car has been freaking out and acting very erratic and strange. It'll jump up and down over a matter of seconds. It'll usually just hang around the C and dance around a lil bit, just bouncing slightly. If you look at the video, just watch the last like 30 seconds of it to see that. Other than that, it just acts strange and doesnt show the actual reading at all. It'll read normal temperature at idle, but when i give it gas, the temp gauge fluctuates.

This was on a 120mile trip that i took the video, i had been driving the car for approximately already 45 minutes on the highway at the time the video doing roughly 70-80mph consistently.

Sorry for the obnoxious, ****ty sound. Apparently my point and shoot camera doesnt like doing video inside a car thats doing 80mph.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKksFWgyHp0

[wrenched_1]

i would have to say you need to change your engine coolant temp sensor.

[vancouverbc]

if yours is the same as 91-94, you have a thermistor for a temperature sensor. the thermistor is just a material that sits in the water and decreases resistance as temperature rises. the thermistor is part of the ground circuit for the gauge. the higher the temperature the better the ground and the more voltage to the gauge and thus a higher reading. I dont think thermistors are that flakey. sounds more like a loose connection or air bubble. unplug the connector at sensor and test the resistance when the engine is cold and hot . the resistance reading should not change much at a given temperature. the hotter the engine , the lower the resistance.

if you have some resistors you can change the resistance signal to see if gauge responds appropriately. you might damage gauge if you dont have at least some resistance in the ground circuit.

[dkdeleon68]

looks like your temp sending unit connector is coming loose.

[homeslicej2]

Check your gauge temp sensor connection and the sensor. If it's spinning around, replace it. Replace it anyway, it's an ~$15 and change the ECU sensor too (a bit more). My SOHC KA temp sensor did the same thing, whenever I gave it gas it dipped down and read colder, connection on the sensor was spinning freely, replaced the sensor, worked great.

[s13_ono]

hmmmm, My temp gauge does that too on my ka. The wierd thing is i had to replace my old rusted out water pump ( for overheating, not to fix the temp thing) and afterwards, the needle was steady for a while but recently it started doing the same thing as yours. I only replaced the pump like a month ago...???

[s13_ono]

Check your gauge temp sensor connection and the sensor. If it's spinning around, replace it. Replace it anyway, it's an ~$15 and change the ECU sensor too (a bit more). My SOHC KA temp sensor did the same thing, whenever I gave it gas it dipped down and read colder, connection on the sensor was spinning freely, replaced the sensor, worked great.

so just get a temp sensor for a 199x nissan 240sx from kragen or something? and by a bit more for the ecu sensor, do you mean like $25 or was that sarcasm?

[Robi1]

Had exactly the same prob on my 89 Bluebird problem wa easy to solve. replace sensor as top of unit where wire hooks on was loose and wobbling around it's only crimped on at the male connector as the speed goes up the vibration increases resistence and not making the current. replace the sensor should solve it.

[574-240sx]

I'm having the same problem on my swapped S14. I just figured it was a temp sensor going bad. I haven't got around to messing with it yet but it seems like the hotter the outside temp is the quicker it will start acting up on my car.

[deezyellownutz]

I just experienced the exact same issue today just like the video that was posted. Awesome video btw. I will definitely try to change the sensor and see what happens. Thanks in advanced.