How do I know if I fried it?
 

O.K. dumb mistake!!!

Late Friday night (attempt at excuse) I installed a new temp guage and sender in my SC. Saturday I went out to test it. Started the engine... Oil and alternator lights worked, oil pressure guage jumped to attention ...

and then smoke rolled out of the vent behind the guage. I shut it down pulled out the guage and reversed the two of the three wires that feed into the temp gauge. Started the car and no smoke. Drove it and no temp registered at all. This is the backdated gauge with numbers.

So how do I test the new gauge to see if it's fried or whether its something between the guage and the sender


Jeff C
81 SC

People get more creative at making smoke generators behind the dash every year!

You may have been lucky and only toasted the +12 Volt lead, a ground lead, and a fuse ... the gauge body was grounded by the other gauge wiring, so hooking +12 Volts to the gound terminal on the temperature side turned the temp. gauge hot lead and the pressure gauge ground leads into heating elements ... limited only by a fuse!

I suggest removing the gauge and taking out the gauge that you just installed ... the four 'cheese head' screws sealed with green laquer when they left the factory ... and remove the temperature gauge module to inspect the gauge internal parts. If the gauge module doesn't smell of burnt plastic, it may have only been the wiring that toasted. Check the two resistors mounted to the phenolic printed circuit board if the module does smell burnt. If they are not toasted ... you probably burnt the moving coil of the D'Arsoval movement. Time to order another conversion kit from Pelican.

The sender may also have been toasted at the same time, hence the reason for getting the whole kit ... PEL-911-TMP-KT1 $99.90

If there is no smell or obvious damge to the temp. gauge module, I suggest testing it out of the dash ... back at the engine by using temporary jumpers to ground, one of the three engine compartment fuses and a jumper to the sender ... after you make repairs to the toasted wires behind your dash, of course!

<img src=" http://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog/images/John1/vdo_oil_temp_kit.jpg">

Thanks Warren - I was hoping you'd spot the post

It was a hell of a smoke generator by the way...I'll take it all back apart later today. I'm betting it's gonna cost me a new guage and sender on top of the boxers I was wearing.
:mad:



Jeff C
81 SC

Yeah, smoking dash beats ExLax hands down.:(

better than smoking engine and loud noises!:eek:

Dennis
72 911E