After I changed the radiator in my 95 Civic the Coolant temp gauge stopped
working. It doesn't appear to be running hot (the fan still comes on and
you can drive it 200+ miles and it will start the next morning) but I'd
really like the gauge back. I'm almost certain that I must have forgotten
to plug something in but so far I have been unable to locate the sensor.

thanx,
David

 

"DGB" <dgbtfs@comcast.net> wrote in
news:G-idnQMIrvJPcV7fRVn-vg@comcast.com:

> After I changed the radiator in my 95 Civic the Coolant temp gauge
> stopped working. It doesn't appear to be running hot (the fan still
> comes on and you can drive it 200+ miles and it will start the next
> morning) but I'd really like the gauge back. I'm almost certain that
> I must have forgotten to plug something in but so far I have been
> unable to locate the sensor.
>
> thanx,
> David

probaby right on the thermostat housing.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

 

On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:52:00 +0000, Jim Yanik wrote:

> "DGB" <dgbtfs@comcast.net> wrote in
> news:G-idnQMIrvJPcV7fRVn-vg@comcast.com:
>
>> After I changed the radiator in my 95 Civic the Coolant temp gauge
>> stopped working. It doesn't appear to be running hot (the fan still
>> comes on and you can drive it 200+ miles and it will start the next
>> morning) but I'd really like the gauge back. I'm almost certain that I
>> must have forgotten to plug something in but so far I have been unable
>> to locate the sensor.
>>
>> thanx,
>> David
>
> probaby right on the thermostat housing.

the sender for the gauge is on the side of the head - under the
distributor.

 

On Dec 28 2008, 1:08 pm, jim beam <spamvor...@bad.example.net> wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Dec 2008 17:52:00 +0000, Jim Yanik wrote:
> > "DGB" <dgb...@comcast.net> wrote in
> >news:G-idnQMIrvJPcV7fRVn-vg@comcast.com:
>
> >> After I changed the radiator in my 95 Civic the Coolant temp gauge
> >> stopped working. It doesn't appear to be running hot (the fan still
> >> comes on and you can drive it 200+ miles and it will start the next
> >> morning) but I'd really like the gauge back. I'm almost certain that I
> >> must have forgotten to plug something in but so far I have been unable
> >> to locate the sensor.
>
> >> thanx,
> >> David
>
> > probaby right on the thermostat housing.
>
> the sender for the gauge is on the side of the head - under the
> distributor.

jeez, i was posting this exact question a couple of months ago. what
is it about old civics, radiators, and temp senders?

anyway, yeah, thanks to advice from here, i did find the temp sender;
there are two of them. the one that's easier to find has two wires;
you don't want that one, it feeds the computer. the one that feeds the
temp gauge has only one wire which snaps on and off, it's smallish and
sits underneath the distributor and a bit back, under the hoses. i
haven't replaced it yet.

to diagnose whether it's the sender or the gauge, with the ignition
switch on grounding the wire from the temp sender ^^briefly^^ should
send the temp gauge high. don't leave it that way, it's really more
current than the gauge wants to see. if that works, then it's the
sender.