sudden temp rising

just started car and was running fine then all of a sudden my temp gage
went crazy flickign around all ofer the place then finally went past
redline and now i dont even have to start the motor and it goes straight
over the redline oni temp gage any suggestions ? my water pump has been
leaking some but it hasnt failed yet

 

1) do you hve coolant in the resevor?
) is the engine running hot?

 

The most improtant thing is to verify whether it is a bonifide
overheating problem or just a problem with the gauge- beyond
important, it is actually critical!

1) While the motor is cold, squeeze the upper radiator hose. Coolanmt
should gurgel into than out of teh overflow reservoir with each
squeeze/release of teh hose. if so, then there is coolant in the motor
and it is probably not overheating. being that the gauge pegs with
just the key in the on position and the motor cold means that the
motor is not actually overheating.

2) To eliminate the temperature sender as the cause, pull the wire off
the sender on the motor and see if that has any effect on teh gauge
behavior. I don't thnk it will, which will mean that the problem is
either in the wiring or in the gauge cluster or the gauge itself.

3) Remove the instrument cluster, and remove the gauge. Check to see
that the connections on all wires are clean and free of corrosion or
oxide. You might find that just removing and replacing the connections
on the cluster fixes the problem... or not.

But you need this to be fixed as it is not good to drive without
'accurate' temperature indication.

__ __
Randy & \ \/ /alerie's
\__/olvos
'90 245 Estate - '93 965 Estate
"Shelby" & "Kate"

 

well i just got back and i opened the resevoir and then messed ith the
coolant temp censor wire and drove it around and gage was normal so i
believe its fixed but i still have to replace a waher or something on the
water pump

 

Sounds like an electrical problem, the wire probably corroded or fell off
the sensor, it can happen to the oil guage as well if it has one.