VR Temperature & fuel gauge questions

[iphitus]

Hi,

I recently got a VR Acclaim. The temperature gauge reads really low. It has the normal problem where it needs a tap to update, but once I do that, it moves and updates, however it's still low.


(apologies for the low res pic)

Normally it sits around the green line or lower. It's not sitting on the bottom.

In traffic, it rises above that, highest I've seen it go is the red line.

I've only had it about a week, and my normal route is pretty smooth, not much traffic. Plus it's been really cold in Melbourne.

If I turn on the air-con, which turns on the pump, it goes back down to the green or lower as expected.

I've searched the forums, but I haven't found any posts with one that reads this low. Normal seems to be between 1/4 and 3/4.

As for the fuel gauge, what are they usually like? In my old camry, there was way more fuel in the first half, like 3/4 of the tank. After halfway it plunged pretty quickly. Are these ones generally pretty linear and even, or does it read more in one half or the other?

Thanks
James

edit: checked coolant and all fluids, they're all fine.

[bandit10]

V6 or V8? my ss doesnt get any hotter than that.. and normally sits around where your green line is. Few years back when i had a V6 it used to get up to 1/2 - 3/4 most the time.

[iphitus]

It's a V6, thanks for the quick reply.

[moff_man]

seem to be a bit cold, try replacing the thurmo stat.

fuel gauses seem to be over the place, i would just try and get used to what your car does.

[bandit10]

yeah +1 for fuel gauges all over the place! mine is shockingly inaccurate when it gets below half a tank. sometimes it will show red then i fill up and only just get 40 litres in to it.

For a V6 i would say it is running cold, follow moff_mans advice and change the thermostat only cost you about $15 and a bottle of coolant You could also try replacing the temp sender, they are about $20 and should make it a little more accurate.
I can link you a site to buy online if you want to change your temp sensor and sender.

[88GreenVN]

The voltage regulator will be the main reason the gauges are failing to work correctly. Inside the cluster the voltage regulator sits behind the speedo and will have a cracked solder joint - fix this with a little solder and see how you go from there.

The sender unit on the fuel gauge also can be the issue with a "empty" tank that only takes 40 lts.

[iphitus]

Thanks for the replies!

yeah +1 for fuel gauges all over the place! mine is shockingly inaccurate when it gets below half a tank. sometimes it will show red then i fill up and only just get 40 litres in to it.

For a V6 i would say it is running cold, follow moff_mans advice and change the thermostat only cost you about $15 and a bottle of coolant You could also try replacing the temp sender, they are about $20 and should make it a little more accurate.
I can link you a site to buy online if you want to change your temp sensor and sender.

That'd be great, thanks. How long would that take to replace?

In the meantime, should it be fine to drive? Is the thermostat failsafe, or am I likely to overheat if I get stuck in sufficiently bad traffic?

I'm worried it'll overheat while the gauge is reading nice and cool - before I get a chance to fix it. Not particularly keen on leaving the air-con on to keep the pump going, it's fairly noisy (and chilly!).

[moff_man]

basically the thermo stat is stuck open causing the car to run cool. running too cool can cause sludge and block up the internals of the engine. safe to drive yes, but i would get a thermo stat so it runs how it should, and it wont over heat.

i would also suggest to do a complete coolant flush and a relay good check of all hoses.

i thought my first vr was running OK but on the highway i noticed the temp gauge return to cold and no heat came out of the vents, a stuck turmo stat was the cause and a new one went in and all was good.

[bandit10]

Eziauto Parts & Accessories - Online auto parts store you can buy most parts you need from here, ive used them heaps.