Temperature Gauge Reading Hot

[pjmoreland]

My temperature gauge has been registering high temps whenever the engine is under load. I did a ton of searching last night and stumbled onto a post where someone had the same issue, but had confirmed that his coolant was not hot. He tracked the issue down to a bad voltage regulator. I measured my system voltage when revving the engine, and it was going way up to above 17 volts. The contact in my voltage regulator was fused shut. I replaced my voltage regulator with a solid state unit, and now my temperature gauge is reading normally. This site is such a great resource! I will probably convert to an internally regulated alternator at some point.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

My temperature gauge has been registering high temps whenever the engine is under load. I did a ton of searching last night and stumbled onto a post where someone had the same issue, but had confirmed that his coolant was not hot. He tracked the issue down to a bad voltage regulator. I measured my system voltage when revving the engine, and it was going way up to above 17 volts. The contact in my voltage regulator was fused shut. I replaced my voltage regulator with a solid state unit, and now my temperature gauge is reading normally. This site is such a great resource! I will probably convert to an internally regulated alternator at some point.

Good job figuring that out. There is certainly a lot of info on here if a guy knows how to find it. You made it a pretty easy fix by doing your homework....

LockDoc

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

Good job figuring that out. There is certainly a lot of info on here if a guy knows how to find it. You made it a pretty easy fix by doing your homework....

LockDoc

We live in an era where we can take credit for fixing things on our own by copying the work of others. It's still satisfying have the problem fixed though 😁

[custom10nut]

Was your regulator the factory external type, or internal in a new alternator.
I’m asking out of ignorance.
I too have an issue with my Temp gauge showing hot, but have updated/replaced everything involving the cooling system, and have verified temps with an external thermometer. I have a new gauge but just haven’t installed it yet.
My alternator (internal regulator) is about 25+ years old, so maybe that’s my issue?
Any tips on how to check the voltage output.
BTW my voltage gauge reads normal.

[weq92f]

Originally Posted by pjmoreland

We live in an era where we can take credit for fixing things on our own by copying the work of others. ...<snip>...

Oh...yes we do. Thank you for pointing that out Sir.

Does anyone remember Deja News? Do you remember what entity purchased them back in 2001?

-klb

[pjmoreland]

Originally Posted by custom10nut

Was your regulator the factory external type, or internal in a new alternator.
I’m asking out of ignorance.
I too have an issue with my Temp gauge showing hot, but have updated/replaced everything involving the cooling system, and have verified temps with an external thermometer. I have a new gauge but just haven’t installed it yet.
My alternator (internal regulator) is about 25+ years old, so maybe that’s my issue?
Any tips on how to check the voltage output.
BTW my voltage gauge reads normal.

My alternator is a factory external type. I just measured the voltage at the battery while holding the multimeter probes like chopsticks with one hand while revving the engine with the other.

[custom10nut]

Ok good to know.
I should be able to do the same with mine