Temp guage reads "normal" all the time

[progun]

My temp guage on my 1974 914/4 jumps to the center even when ice cold when you turn on the ignition. I also do not know where the temp sender is. There are two loose wires on the top of the engin next to the distributor but grounding them does nothing to the guage. I got most other things sorted out but I can't find this. Thanks, Paul

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

The sender for the temp gauge is inside the bottom of the engine. Look for the two round sump plates; the one in the left-front corner of the engine (held on by two bolts) should have a wire coming out of it. The sender is up in there, and the wire carries the signal. The wire goes across the front of the engine under the engine tin, and there is a connector near where the throttle cable goes through the engine tin.

The sender is a variable resistor, so if the gauge always reads the same it is seeing the same resistance all the time. The gauge could be plugged into just a plain resistor somewhere, I guess.

Try unplugging the connector in the sender wire and see if the gauge reading changes. Also see if unplugging the sender wire from the gauge itself changes it. And make sure the wires are plugged in to the gauge correctly. That's probably the easiest thing to get wrong, and it might produce these symptoms.

--DD

[progun]

I see that part under the engine now. It USED to have a wire but it's broken off clean. I need to re-connect that and find out where it is supposed to go. All the loose wires left under the hood do not affect the guage at all. It pops right up to middle and stays there.