Any pointers on where to start much appreciated.
Car is a 1993 Fizz - the temp reading on the gauge has always got to about halfway, never into the red & the fan kicks in & out OK when the engine is hot. The heater works fine....the gauge has behaved the same before & after coolant change.
The car has been standing over winter & I've noticed when I first start & run it the temperature gauge doesn't move even when the engine gets hot. If I switch the ignition off & on again & run the engine after a few minutes the needle will creep up. When I switch the ignition off the needle will stick for a minute or so before dropping down.
After a couple more starts & stops the needle will behave normally - going up pretty smoothly & dropping down smoothly when the ignition is off....but never going past halfway when the engine is running.
The obvious answer is to use the car more but to solve the fault I'm not sure where to start - is the sender unit likely to be faulty, could there be a dodgy connection or earth somewhere or is the display / needle possibly sticking?
I can check these in my usual haphazard way but if anyone can point at the most likely culprit / easiest fix I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions
Car is a 1993 Fizz - the temp reading on the gauge has always got to about halfway, never into the red & the fan kicks in & out OK when the engine is hot. The heater works fine....the gauge has behaved the same before & after coolant change.
The car has been standing over winter & I've noticed when I first start & run it the temperature gauge doesn't move even when the engine gets hot. If I switch the ignition off & on again & run the engine after a few minutes the needle will creep up. When I switch the ignition off the needle will stick for a minute or so before dropping down.
After a couple more starts & stops the needle will behave normally - going up pretty smoothly & dropping down smoothly when the ignition is off....but never going past halfway when the engine is running.
The obvious answer is to use the car more but to solve the fault I'm not sure where to start - is the sender unit likely to be faulty, could there be a dodgy connection or earth somewhere or is the display / needle possibly sticking?
I can check these in my usual haphazard way but if anyone can point at the most likely culprit / easiest fix I'd appreciate it. Thanks in advance for any suggestions