[Floozey]

Hello, I am actuallly pretty new to the site, but I feel like I know many of you because I have been pouring over the forums for a couple weeks. I must say that I admire you people for your knowledge and your eagerness to help.

My Ride: Just bought last month. The temp gauge didn't work, so I replaced the single wire sensor off the intake (the right one, thanks to you), but that didi not help. Off the sensor, the wire is brown w/a white stripe I believe. I ripped apart the inst. cluster, which wasn't hard because whoever installed the annoying alarm broke about every trim screw possible :doh0715: , and guessed/determined the wire going into the inst. was #9 on the grey block. It was black w/ a blue stripe. Anyway, because of the alarm install, I thought the wires could be screwed with somewhere. I spliced the inst. clust. wire and ran it directly to the sensor. NO LUCK.

So....Is it possible to replace the gauge, or should I try pick-n-pull?

Thanks :twotu:

 

[colinlesser]

replace the sensor

 

[Floozey]

I did replace the sensor (single wire). When that didn't work, I tried to run a wire straight from the gauge. That didn't work, so I'm guessing the gauge is bad. Is it possible to replace just the gauge, or should I replace the whole inst. cluster. That is the question.

 

[SouthFloridaBronco85]

Put in a mechanical gauge, like 10 bucks anywhere. Edit:nevermind

 

[Floozey]

Your right, he's prolly tired after baggin on NMBronco....

Don't want another gauge, just want to fix the one I already got.

 

[TheUnforgiven]

Your right, he's prolly tired after baggin on NMBronco....

Don't want another gauge, just want to fix the one I already got.

this happened in my '96 F150, diagnosed it to be either a gauge, or a bad wire. replaced the gauge and it's fixed, it's very easy.

now, why the f uck would you replace the whole damn cluster for ONE gauge? and it's pointless to fix the gauge you have if its so damn easy and cheap to R&R it. how do you even fix the gauge? :scratchhe

just replace it dude.

 

[Floozey]

What I meant was that I don't want to add ANOTHER guage, i.e. aftermarket in another spot, and have the temp guage dead on the cluster. I want the guage in the orig. factory spot to work. If I can buy a part to fix it or buy one from a junk yard for a couple bucks, that is what I would like to do.

So for the 3rd time, is it possible to replace the broken factory gauge with another factory gauge, or should I just look in the junk yard for a new cluster?(this is what I'm leaning torward now).

 

[Dustin]

you have a pm floozy.......i edited your thread here and explained myself in the pm.

 

[multiphat]

On my 88 Bronco you can pull off the sensor and ground it with the key off. Turn key on and guage should peg to hot. Don't leave it like this cut key off once test is complete. If it rises when grounded the guage is good.

 

[Steve83]

The temp ...sensor, the wire is brown w/a white stripe I believe. I ...guessed/determined the wire going into the inst. was #9 on the grey block. It was black w/ a blue stripe. ...I spliced the inst. clust. wire and ran it directly to the sensor.

:twak

Didn't you look at a wiring diagram??? The temp sender wire is ALWAYS R/Wh from the sender to the cluster. If you've crossed a Br/W to a Bk/Bu, there's no telling what you've done or what's gonna happen. Fix everything back the way it was & find the right wire. You probably don't need ANY parts to fix this, but there's no way of knowing until you diagnose the correct circuit.

Read this thread.

 

[Oldyeller]

Put in a mechanical gauge, like 10 bucks anywhere. And it's pretty pointless to call out yeller like that.......

Wait, who's callin me out? WTF i miss all the good stuff. Either way, What Steve83 said X2

 

[TheUnforgiven]

What I meant was that I don't want to add ANOTHER guage, i.e. aftermarket in another spot, and have the temp guage dead on the cluster. I want the guage in the orig. factory spot to work. If I can buy a part to fix it or buy one from a junk yard for a couple bucks, that is what I would like to do.

So for the 3rd time, is it possible to replace the broken factory gauge with another factory gauge, or should I just look in the junk yard for a new cluster?(this is what I'm leaning torward now).[/QUOTE]

ok, i miss understood, i'm sorry :whiteflag

dude, just pull a coolant/oilpressure cluster,remember the gauge cluster is in thirds (EDIT: THIS IS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE A TACH, IF YOUR TRUCK HAS A TACH, I DO NOT KNOW WHAT GAUGE IS REMOVED WITH WHAT GAUGE), out of a junkyard 92-96 bronco or F-series, and reinstall in your gauge cluster. this is EXACTLY what it did (except i got my guage from e-bay) and the job only takes an hour, and it's an hour if you are being absolutely careful about everything. the hardest part about the whole install is getting the head-light knob off and then on again.......just replace the gauge and go from there.

 

[TheUnforgiven]

went to edit post and doubled it instead, sorry :brownbag

 

[Steve83]

stepchild88
The cluster is different w/o tach.

 

[Floozey]

Thanks 2 all for your input. After cleaning the wire at the sensor, it is indeed red/wh stripe. I spliced to red/wh stripe coming off the cluster but it did not help. When I move the needle, it moves back to "cold" which I think is strange, but my next step is to swap out the temp gauge from within the cluster. Your pix helped to see what i'm up against. Next stop....junkyard.

P.S. Haynes manual is garbage. As someone on AMAZON put it: Trees have fallen in the forest in vain. (waste of paper)

Anyway, bought the "Shop Manual" on CD off ebay for like $8. Supposedly you can search the cd for what you need. Just thought it might help me in the future. Anybody like it?

 

[SouthFloridaBronco85]

Just a thought. Whether you want another gauge or not, the factory units don't seem to be so reliable. Even if you put one in you might not get an accurate reading. Mine said I was way too hot, so I changed the thermostat, flushed the radiator, new coolant. Still showed me in the red. Then I put in a mechanical and viola, I'm in the normal temp range. Thats why many people will tell you to install a mechanical gauge.

Edit: Read the next post for more accurate info, Thanks Steve :beer

 

[Steve83]

What kind of CD? Ford, Alldata, or something else? You can't search the Ford CDs, but they're organized so you'd never want to.

Haynes is far better than any other aftermarket manual, so hang onto it.

Did you try grounding the Wh/R wire onto the engine? How about grounding the corresponding terminal on the back of the cluster to cluster ground? If the key is on, the needle should move - if not, the gauge is bad.

ALL the 3-pin gauges in your cluster are identical, so you can temporarily wire one of the others up to 12V, ground, & the Wh/R to find out if you need a gauge.

OE gauges aren't calibrated, so they're only really intended to show the CHANGES in readings - not an absolute reading, like the face of a mechanical gauge. Otherwise, they're very precise. The volt gauge is calibrated.

 

[Floozey]

this is the ebay CD:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1,1&item=8023237142&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT

I tried grounding the sucker several times, but it never budged. I'm very excited to work on/own the bronco, but right now, work is killing me and I get about 20 min a day to work on it in the dark at +/- 50 degrees (hey thats cold in CA).

I am now beginning to consider aftermarket. Is there somrthing I should look for in a new one, or just buy any at pep boys/kragen/auto zone etc. Will they be diff than say an autometer?

In the mean time I will try the other gauge thing. And mine does have a tach.

I also scored a new RC 2.5" lift on ebay for $267 shipped!! Its not SAS but its a start!! I gotta hurry w/the gauge so I can dig into that headache!

 

[TheUnforgiven]

stepchild88
The cluster is different w/o tach.

i know steve, didn't know what it looks like behind the gauges with a tach (my 150 is tachless, stupid Ford :banghead ) i figured it'd be the same, 2 gauges in one cluser, but i didn't know if it could be coolant/OP (like it is), or fuel/temp, etc.....that's all i was saying steve.

thanks for the pic though, learned something today. :twotu: