Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) pyro guage getting flakey

[Tractorat]

My autometer pyro guage is staring to act flakey. The other day I was driving down the road about 50mph, and the needle dropped to below zero and stayed there. Just before I got to my destination, it started to work again. Ever since then, it will sporatically appear to read low. I pulled the guage out and inspected the wires which appeared to be tight.

Can the sensor start acting like this ? Or when it goes bad, does it just dump all of a sudden and not work at all ?

Any ideas ?

 

[Ram4Sam]

My 01' used to do this every few years......I would clean all the connections under the hood and make sure they are tight. When you are dealing with mili-volts( or whatever they are called) it doesn't take much to mess things up. Mine always worked fine after that. Or, your gauge might be taking a dump on you.

Sam

 

[hcole]

Trac, if your thermocouple is like mine, it has 2 bolted connections close to the thermocouple that you have to take apart and clean and then bolt back together. If you have some conducting compound, then use some on it. A thermocouple generates its own voltage but it's in millivolts so it doesn't take much of a bad connection to make it fail. The smaller the electrical pressure (volts) the less push it has to overcome resistance to flow. Think water presure. It HAS to be CLEAN and tight. I have to redo my connections about once a year.

 

[Tractorat]

I pulled the gauge out and tried to tighten the connections there. They barely budged if at all. But it seems to be working OK now. If that doesnt continue to make it behave, Ill try you suggestion at the sensor end.

Thanks