is it normal for the temp gauge ti sit 4 strokes up on the gauge cause most 3rd gens i see sit more then 4 strokes???

is it normal for the temp gauge ti sit 4 strokes up on the gauge cause most 3rd gens i see sit more then 4 strokes???

4 strokes? As in 4 of the marks or points or whatever? I'm not too sure about everyone elses but my KH Verada sits half a stroke/point/mark under the half-way mark basically all the time. Once the car warms-up it goes to that point and stays there. Had a KH Exec company car when they were new and it did the same thing. Even with the A/C on it stays there.

Does your car have a thermostat? Maybe someone took it out? A lot of people think that running a car without a thermostat is better for them because they run cool all the time. This has implications for fuel efficiency and the actual operation of the motor because they were designed to run effectivly at a certain temperature......could just be a faulty fuel gauge, unless my experience with my 2 cars isn't right.

im pretty sure it has a thermo in it but when i have the ac on it dont move one bit the car has never overheated or even dropped in temp, i have looked at others on amc and there temp gauge is the same and does the same as mine

pretty much all 3rd gen magna/verada yemp gauges should read halfway (give or take a minor bit)... and it should just stay on that once warm. Is yours halfway? If so, perfectly fine, if over, might be a problem

just under abit like the 4th stroke well just over the 4th stroke

just under abit like the 4th stroke well just over the 4th stroke

and without bothering to go out 2 my car, where does it put it? halfway? above halfway? below? and by how much?

Give us a rough percentage as to how far up from the bottom it is.

pretty much all 3rd gen magna/verada fuel gauges should read halfway (give or take a minor bit)... and it should just stay on that once warm. Is yours halfway? If so, perfectly fine, if over, might be a problem

geeze i wish my fuel gauge did that :P

geeze i wish my fuel gauge did that :P

hehe changed :) it was late :P

Mine starts at the bottom, and slowly works its way to the middle point and never moves.

Can you take a picture of it to show exactly what you mean?

Alright, the whole "4 strokes" description annoyed me enough to make me go out to my car and look, lol. 4 "strokes" or "marks" or "points" is 1/4 on my Verada. It has that weird glow-in-the-dark red-needle dash and it has about 16-18 little dash's. From what I can work out "8 Strokes" is about halfway. If your car has the same number of "strokes" as mine then I'd guess it's running too cool. Can we have an indication as to whether it's closer to 1/4, 1/2, 3/4 etc?

Just for reference....

http://img146.imageshack.us/img146/6312/picture7dp3.png

i think what the OP means, the temp guage reads approx 1 quarter of sweep.

so less than the normal half way that everyone elses car seems to sit at (mine included)

sounds like the car isnt warming up enough.

the thermostat might have been removed sometime - which is bad for newer cars (as stated before) as they are designed to run efficiently at a certain temp all the time and maintain it.

at least its not 4 'points' off the top/ overheating mark - so that in itself has got to be a good thing :)


has the needle ever gone to the 'normal' halfway mark?
does the car seem to use more or less fuel than 'other' cars.

if you could get hold of a laser thermometer sometime, and someone with a similar car as yours - drive them over equal distances and conditions, and get a temp reading from your top rad hose and from the block of the engine, and compare to the other car.
if they are the same / very close - then the guage might be at fault.
if they are different - then the thermostat might have been removed at some stage, put it back in (make sure its the right temp range / opperation range though)

possible someone has changed the gauge cluster and put the needle back wrong?

ok ill find a pic and show u what i mean

ok where the red mark is where my temp sits

Theres a red mark? Oh wait, yep I see it. Nah that looks to be about normal, just below half (half would be the needle pointing straight across the dash toward the passenger side).

I was working off the Verada gauge setup, it has more marks on in. I doubt there's anything abnormal about it. Were you asking the question because you thought something was wrong with it?

just didnt know if that was normal

its fine...

I hired a TJ when they were brand new up in QLD. It only had like 6000k's on it and its temp guage sat about 1/4 up.

All my radas have always sat dead on half way and never budged.

my TE's temp gauge sits approx 3/4 from bottom once it gets warmed up....not sure what is happening but it doesnt look too good.

From what ive gathered driving my TJ, the engine warms up until it reaches a certain temperature, then keeps itself at that level - usually a bees dick under half way.

heh, mines all over the shop, getting it looked at on sat. sits just a littlest bit over halfway, then sometimes at random goes to 3/4 then slowly back down, dont know if its temp gauge or something else.. but will get it looked at on sat hopefully fixed before my engine blows!

From what ive gathered driving my TJ, the engine warms up until it reaches a certain temperature, then keeps itself at that level - usually a bees dick under half way.
Same here.:cool:

my TE's temp gauge sits approx 3/4 from bottom once it gets warmed up....not sure what is happening but it doesnt look too good.

Usually that means your thermostat is buggered (stuck open so water is constantly going through your radiator and keeping your car 'too cool'), its not an expensive fix, but if your car is running like this continuously, it is always trying to 'warm itself up more' and as far as I know uses more petrol.

Mine used to sit 1/4 of the way up all the time, changed the thermostat and started getting 100km more out of each tank!!!!

Get it looked at by someone or fix it yourself

And if it goes up and never comes back down odds are the thermostat is also bugger but isn't letting anything through, which is when you stop before it goes bang...unfortunately that happened to our TR many many years ago and we paid the price for it.

what about if it reads zero even when driving it for a while? stuffed thermo/gauge?

what about if it reads zero even when driving it for a while? stuffed thermo/gauge?

Haha you must have a FulLy HekTikK Cold air intake to have it at 0 degrees dude. :bowrofl:

Post pics lawlz

what about if it reads zero even when driving it for a while? stuffed thermo/gauge?

Stuffed guage more likely......

On very cold nights sitting on the highway my gauge reads just barely above the bottom line, seems to have a lot better throttle response in the cold too.

On very cold nights sitting on the highway my gauge reads just barely above the bottom line, seems to have a lot better throttle response in the cold too.

Doesn't that mean its stuffed???

I think its supposed to circulate water back to the engine and bypass the radiator all together when your engine is cold. Plus you use more fuel when its cold too

Usually that means your thermostat is buggered (stuck open so water is constantly going through your radiator and keeping your car 'too cool'), its not an expensive fix, but if your car is running like this continuously, it is always trying to 'warm itself up more' and as far as I know uses more petrol.

Mine used to sit 1/4 of the way up all the time, changed the thermostat and started getting 100km more out of each tank!!!!

Get it looked at by someone or fix it yourself

actually, the needle sits between the top and middle of the gauge, meaning it's too hot!!!

i hope it's not the head gasket (no coloured smoke what so ever). otherwise it's an expensive fix.

3/4 on gauge if true is far too hot, be very careful you dont warp the heads.

Mine goes to just below halfway and doesnt move, not even after 20 hours non-stop driving

3/4 on gauge if true is far too hot, be very careful you dont warp the heads.

Mine goes to just below halfway and doesnt move, not even after 20 hours non-stop driving

what do reckon could be the cause?

I'm starting work in the bush in about 10 days and dont want to be stuck (touch wood) in the middle of no where if the TE dies!

what do reckon could be the cause?

I'm starting work in the bush in about 10 days and dont want to be stuck (touch wood) in the middle of no where if the TE dies!
Most likely the thermostat. Cheap fix.

what do reckon could be the cause?

I'm starting work in the bush in about 10 days and dont want to be stuck (touch wood) in the middle of no where if the TE dies!

Yeah check the thermostat by boiling it in a thing of water and see if it opens up at the temp thats stamped onto the unit, also look at the temp sender as well it could be playing the dodgey.