Temperature gauge acting strangely

[CMF_LonePhantom]

Hey all, I've been having a strange problem with my temperature gauge for a while now.

It typically reads fine, when car is properly heated up it sits at around the half-way mark. If I hit a bit of a bump, and the car is jolted a bit the gauge can randomly shoot up to the highest possible position, well above the high notch.

I tap the gauge with my finger and it drops back down to regular position.

Any ideas what might be causing it? Something fixable, or should I just get a new temp gauge for the cluster?

Thanks all.

 

[CMF_Greo]

Possibly some air in the system. Try topping up your coolant.
If that doesnt work take the radiator cap off, turn the car on & let it heat up. Squeeze the lower radiator hose repeatedly for awhile, it should force the air bubble out the opening.

 

[CMF_LonePhantom]

Ok then, so the actual coolant, and potential air bubbles could affect it? Interesting. Thanks for that, I'll try it out this week.

 

[CMF_Greo]

An air bubble near the sensor and a bump on the road moves the bubble to the sensor where it heats up quicker due to the different thermal transfer properties of air vs coolant.

Or there could be a loose connection so the senor wiggles and earths out, giving an odd signal?

 

[CMF_climberjoel]

hey mate, could just be the gauge.

Ive got a couple of dash clusters and on one of mine the temp gauge does the same thing, whereas with the other dash clusters its fine. I opened up the cluster, gave it a clean and this seemed to help, although on occasion it reappears.