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Topic: Temperature Gauge Problems (Read 924 times) |
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mondeoman
Full Member
2.9 24V Cosworth Ultima + 2.3 16V Facelift Ultima
Posts: 376
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Temperature Gauge Problems
« on: Oct 13th, 2009, 8:01pm » |
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My wife has reported that her 2.3 Scorpio Ultima's temperature gauge keeps moving from warm (mid point of gauge) to cold (blue) whilst she has been driving the car. She has also reported that the climate control did not seem to be working very well as she was cold in the car despite the setting at max.
Any ideas what might be causing the trouble and possible solutions etc?
Cheers,
Mondeoman
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scorpio_man
Administrator
Ford Kuga awd
Posts: 5654
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #1 on: Oct 13th, 2009, 9:30pm » |
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hi there
could be the thermostat as the 2.3 is bad for these, but could also be the sensor.
re the climate control. do a reset as per the website and see if that helps.
hth
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Tekno
Full Member
Tenho Ruohoranta
Posts: 599
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #2 on: Oct 14th, 2009, 2:01pm » |
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Sometimes my temp gauge also drops to "zero". Changing thermostat and temperature sensor didn't help
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1998 Ford Scorpio Ultima Estate 2.3i 16V
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Snoopy
Administrator
Very old.BAD tempered and missing friends.
Posts: 6278
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #3 on: Oct 14th, 2009, 2:35pm » |
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The BIG connecting plug on the drivers side inner wing is usually the culprit, well worth undoing the nut on the top and spraying the contacts with cleaner and assembling a couple of times, a KNOWN source of bad connections.
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mondeoman
Full Member
2.9 24V Cosworth Ultima + 2.3 16V Facelift Ultima
Posts: 376
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #4 on: Oct 14th, 2009, 5:04pm » |
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Snoopy,
Will it be easy for me to find the connector? I take you mean it located in the engine compartment on the left hand side by the wheel arch etc? Otherwise where do you mean by inner wing?
Do you think that might also effect the climate control, giving it false readings and hence not use any heat from the engine, because it thinks it's cold?
Cheers,
Mondeoman
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NormanHall
Junior Member
Scorpio-itis
Posts: 84
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #7 on: Oct 15th, 2009, 7:38pm » |
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My temp guage has done this like forever but dont look at it it does not affect the running
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mondeoman
Full Member
2.9 24V Cosworth Ultima + 2.3 16V Facelift Ultima
Posts: 376
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #8 on: Oct 15th, 2009, 7:51pm » |
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Thanks everyone, I've tried as suggested and cleaned the plug and reset the climate control, so it's a waiting game now.
Just want to take this chance to say thanks to everyone for all the help and advice I've been getting on here, it's so nice.
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tlundkvi
Full Member
Ex. Scorpio 2.9 24V -95
Posts: 909
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #9 on: Oct 15th, 2009, 8:45pm » |
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One thing, you did check all coolant levels (and made sure there's no air lock), shortage of coolant will cause the needle to sometimes go up and drop again to normal. If coolant level is low, I think the system is constructed in such a way flow to the heater matrix is automatically sacrificed. This without valves etc. I had this symptom going on, and this was the reason (no drop to blue though). If the air becomes cold at the same time needle goes up, it can point to this problem.
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Jonnycab
Senior Member
Former owner of 2.3 Ultima Facelift saloon
Posts: 3900
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #10 on: Oct 16th, 2009, 1:39am » |
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Cold air in the car & temp guage dropping could be down to low coolant or airlock as tlundkvi suggests.
Could also be a stuck open thermostat, as scorpio_man suggests. With a stuck open thermostat the temp will usually be fine around town at low speed, but when on the open road (with rushing air cooling the rad), the temp guage tends to drop & the heater start blowing cold.
But it could possibly be that you have two unrelated problems causing the symptoms..... 
It could be that the temp gauge sender is faulty (suggested earlier) or the wiring to it is making a bad connection, or the guage itself is faulty (bad solder joint)....
Pull off the plug from the sender & bridge the connections in the plug. With the ignition on, the gauge should rise fully into the red & stay there. If it does, then it means the gauge & wiring are fine & it is most likely a faulty sender.
As for the cold air blowing out when set to hot... check the in & out pipes to the heater matrix when the engine is hot.....they should both be the same temp & too hot to hold for more than a few seconds. If the inlet is hot but the outlet is cold/cooler, then you could have a blocked/restricted matrix.
Hope this helps 
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Tekno
Full Member
Tenho Ruohoranta
Posts: 599
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #11 on: Oct 16th, 2009, 5:09am » |
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you can also hold trip meter button and check what values temp sender gives. If it's 255 or so, your gauge is not faulty but something else.
I get sometimes 255 and sometimes works normally.. haven't found where problem is.. changed: temp sensor, thermostat and checked instrument panel's connections, fluid level..
heater works normally though, after I replaced heater matrix. That was horrible job 
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1998 Ford Scorpio Ultima Estate 2.3i 16V
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homer2themax
Junior Member
'95 12v Aubergine Saloon
Posts: 97
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #12 on: Oct 26th, 2009, 11:23pm » |
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My temp gauge seems to have a life of its own too.
Held the trip reset button in while driving and cycled to the eng temp setting several times and got some very erratic readings coinciding with the movements on the gauge.
Flitting around the 255 mark gauge reads cold.
Hanging around the 160-180 mark and needle is at bottom of norm.
127ish and the gauge is sat perfectly in the middle.
Thing is it was almost never still, it would flicker around these numbers constantly and for no apparent reason gauge would go up and down depending on the readout. Heater works normally and to be fair it moves so quickly sometimes that its impossible for the engine to cool down so fast. Especially while driving at speed.
Does seem to do it mostly when cold outside or at speed though.
If I get it sorted I will let you know.
Mark
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Snoopy
Administrator
Very old.BAD tempered and missing friends.
Posts: 6278
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #13 on: Oct 27th, 2009, 7:52am » |
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Speed Does have a tremendous affect on the coolant temperature along with the ambient temperature, even on a very hot day I doubt if the fan(s) actually cut in if driving at speed as there is a good airflow to keep the coolant within limits.
I don't know what temperature the Scorpio fans are meant to com on but on MOST cars it is very high somewhere around the 90C and the fans cut out with 4/5 degrees. from my experience.
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a900one
Full Member
A scorpio is for life not just for christmas
Posts: 980
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Re: Temperature Gauge Problems
« Reply #14 on: Oct 27th, 2009, 10:19pm » |
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I would think it is much higher the fans come on as the thermostat only opens at about 90c and the engine runs at over 100c, hence the pressure cap to increase the temp the water will boil at.
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