My temp gauge reads hot even though the engine is operating within normal parameters. The engine never overheats I'm wonfdering if it is just the sensor could somebody give me some advise please?

2000cc Zetec smiths 52mm gauge.
Many thanks

Is it a Smiths sensor matched to the guage?

Is there enough free cable in the wiring loom to dangle the temperature temperature sensor into a cup of water? I used this technique to diagnose a fault in my daily driver. With the sensor removed, but still wired up to the loom, I dipped it in cups of water of varying degrees of temperature whilst simultaneously taking a reading with a known, good electronic thermometer. Turns out that although the cold and operating temperatures were right, it had lost linearity in the warming-up region.

zetec ususally does not have a (free) thread where you can screw-in a typical smiths sensor.

have you upgraded your car from a x/flow or pinto to zetec?

yes? than you should have kept the "old" sensor, installing it in something like this:




you can find them at ebay

Many older smiths gauges run off a stabilised 10v supply and need a specific sender. 12v will cause it to overread....

original one


modern one:

if the instrument is connected direclty to power (12V) it will read too high

here sale´s link of those modern stabilisers:

Semiconductor Voltage Stabilizer- GT6 Spitfire Stag 250