Temp. guage problem

ladies,
so i’ve been noticing lately that the temp. guage on my car is a little “misleading.”

the needle usually went to about a little under half way on a normal day of driving, but now it seems to be stuck down.
NOW, the weird thing is that i know the needle isnt simply broken because it moves a little bit, i can see it go up a couple of MMs but no more than that. even after driving nonstop to blue mountain, i barely reached the starting line.
http://i162.photobucket.com/albums/t269/IONESCU1/DASHPICREAL.jpg

can anyone confirm the reason for this? is it simply because its cold outside and that particular guage is a little slow? its not too big of a deal, i was just wondering if anyone had any ideas

any help is appreciated

First (I figure you did this but) check your fluid level in the rad (when its cold so you dont get burnt). If the coolant gets low enough, the temp sensor wont read warm or hot cause theres no antifreeze around it to give it a temp. Next warm up the car and check your rad and hoses by touch. They should be fairly warm once the car has been running for awhile. If there not, maybe the thermostat is stuck open, not allowing the engine to heat up. If that isnt it, it’s probably the temp sensor or wiring or gauge itself that has gone bad.

maybe t stat is stuck open?

go take it out for a drift sesh and it should pop up to normal temp if the t-stat is stuck open. i would guess its the gauge, if there was no coolant your car would overheat. if you run your car with no t-stat it will warm up eventually, but it will cool very quickly.

like i said, my money is on the cluster or sensor

check to see if your temp sensor is even plugged in, because the gauge will default to cold. It may be a thermostat, just run your car for a bit and see if all the coolant hoses seem warm… indicating that there is coolant flow, obviously check the coolant level.

If the t stat is good check the resistance on the sensor if that is good you are going to have to get a wiring diagram.

turn the key on. ground out the wire going to the temp sensor for the gauge and the gauge should max out hot. if it does. check cooling system for leaks and proper operation. change sensor.

problem solved

looking at the picture again your odometer is fucked. perhaps when you/someone else took out the cluster you/they did not install it properly.

First thing I noticed. Looked like an older Honda gauge cluster with only 41 km. Damn near impossible. That odometer is dangerous. Be careful with that stuff since it’s all recorded and monitored these days.