86 newbie

hey i have a 86 gt stock engine, my temp gauge doesn't work. i believe it is the temp sensor. do you think it could be anything else? i can easily pick up a new sensor. anything will help thanks guys

Venomantidote95

Sometimes you can clean the rust from it an it will work then but if it is to distorted then its time to replace it.

86 newbie

ok thanks ill try that if its not the sensor what else do you think it could be?

19stang88

this is what I did. disconnect the wire that goes to the temp sensor. get a piece of wire and ground out the connection. while the key is in the on position (car off) see if the temp gauge goes all the way up. If it does, your connection to temp sensor is good and your temp sensor is bad.

4rdnut

Get a mechanical temp gauge so you know the real temperature, no sense playing around with the stock electrical one.

Venomantidote95

There you go the best option!

86 newbie

well i want to buy a mechanical one but im in high school and have no money so im just gunna fix this then maybe in the summer ill get one

Venomantidote95

The new sensor is less than 10$ I think.

19stang88

yeah they are cheap. you can always try replacing the sensor, they are cheap. Just make sure you use teflon coating on the threads

Venomantidote95

When you go to the parts store take the old one there are 2 coolant temp sensor and they look and do different things.