Coolant Temperature Guage Not Woking

[skmoon]

I have an '03 Yukon XL.

I was driving down the road a few weeks ago and my temp gauge went crazy. It started by ******* to the red which freaked me out. I pulled over and looked under the hood and determined that it was not overheating. Then, the needle kept turning clockwise until it was pointing straight down.

That is where it has stayed since.

So, I replaced the temperature sensor and ran the needle back around to 160. It seemed to run fine for about an hour, then it repeated the previous crazy action.

Do you guys know what could be the problem? If its the gauge itself, is it safe to assume that the entire instrument panel will need to be repaired/replaced?

 

[BOSS]

Sounds wacky, you replaced the coolant temp sensor that is on the driver side of the engine block next to #1 spark plug?

 

[skmoon]

Sounds wacky, you replaced the coolant temp sensor that is on the driver side of the engine block next to #1 spark plug?

Yes...that's the one.

 

[oak510_tahoe]

when the battery in my hoe was going bad ( only hold 10v ) my temp gauge stopped working completely for some reason. After I swapped out for a new battery, temp gauge went back to normal. Not sure what caused it though. Or maybe your stepper motor is going bad?

 

[skmoon]

when the battery in my hoe was going bad ( only hold 10v ) my temp gauge stopped working completely for some reason. After I swapped out for a new battery, temp gauge went back to normal. Not sure what caused it though. Or maybe your stepper motor is going bad?

Maybe I should check my battery. Haven't had any other indications this would be the case, though.

Is the stepper motor part of the gauge itself and is that something I could repair (I mean your average ole home mechanic)?

 

[oak510_tahoe]

the stepper motor requires soldering I believe, not 100% sure, I'm sure someone will chime in.

 

[Eagle]

It does, But it is EASY. I did it for the first time in under an hour.

You need to replace ALL of them. They are ALL defective unless the dealership had already replaced the entire cluster (their fix... $500-$600)

it doesn't cost much to do it yourself, even if you don;t have all the tools.

Under $50.



OmarR did a write up on Z71 about adding the 7th motor for tranny temp that covers the entire disassembly, soldering, and reassembly procedure.


there's a link to it in this thread.

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7466