Technical 2002 Ducato - faulty temperature gauge

[Yorkshire Traveller]

I seek the help and advice from the forum!

We have a 2002 2.8JTD LHD Hymer B644 motorhome based on a Fiat Ducato maxi chassis/mechanicals.

In early 2007 the water temperature gauge failed. Our garage confirmed that it was not the water temperature sensor/sender at fault but the gauge itself (the temperature was showing in the middle of the gauge immediately on startup and did not move from this position).

This was rectified by sourcing a replacement/exchange binnacle unit (i.e. not a new unit), this also served the purpose of getting a dash speedometer reading in mph+kph rather than the kph only original. Cost back in 2007 was around £150.

Guess what - the temperature gauge is now doing the same again.

Has anyone else experienced the same problem? Can anyone suggest if it is possible to perform a repair? Apparently a new binnacle now costs £600! If it's not possible to repair the gauge I think I'll just live with it as I assume the red warning temperature light will still work as required.

Our (excellent!) garage sells and services a lot of Fiat based motorhomes and has never experienced this problem before, yet it's happened to us twice!

Any help and suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Restorer]

Hi: Not the ideal solution I know, but if you have any room to fit it you can buy an aftermarket Water temp gauge kit on ebay for between £10 - £25 complete with new sensor. It would be a lot cheaper than a new Binnacle & pretty easy to fit. By the way I would'nt rely too heavily on the temp warning light, they're not that reliable & by the time they come on the engine is often well cooked.

Andy

 

[Yorkshire Traveller]

Hi: Not the ideal solution I know, but if you have any room to fit it you can buy an aftermarket Water temp gauge kit on ebay for between £10 - £25 complete with new sensor. It would be a lot cheaper than a new Binnacle & pretty easy to fit. By the way I would'nt rely too heavily on the temp warning light, they're not that reliable & by the time they come on the engine is often well cooked.

Andy

Hi Andy:

Thanks for your really useful suggestion! Nice to know I have a plan B if the original gauge can't be fixed.

 

[Restorer]

Hi: Forgot to add in my earlier reply, take a look at some of the car restoration magazines. They've often got listings for firms that repair / restore Gauges of all sorts.

Just been having a look around & it might be worth you giving these people a look. They're listing repairs to the instrument cluster on your Vehicle at £80.00 + Carriage. Never used them myself so can't comment on what sort of job they do but migh be worth an email.



Hope that helps: Andy

 

[Yorkshire Traveller]

An update with a great result!

My motorhome dealers (Dick Lane Motorhomes, Bradford) called in their specialist auto electrician to investigate.

He removed the speedo/temp gauge/fuel gauge head unit, stripped this down to the circuit board and re-soldered any dry joints.

Water temp gauge now works perfectly.

£50 rather than £600 for a new unit from Fiat!

Thanks for your advice and help, hope that this resolution may be of help to others with a similar problem.

 

[Restorer]

Excellent news mate, Glad you got it sorted out. I've repaired a few on Mitsubishi Pajeros etc but never done 1 on a Fiat. Thanks for letting me know.


Have a good weekend: Andy

 

[Henn48]

Hi I was glad to find this information, I do have exately the same problem with my auto-camper Ducato 2004 and hope it can be solved in the same way.

 

[Henn48]

Hi
It was easy to disassemble the instrument panel but: Bang:
Is there anyone who can tell me how I can remove the print circuit card. the problem is how to remove the hands.

 

[rapidoman]

Hi, I have had this problem with the temperature gauge. I cured it by doing the following:
Disconnect the negative lead of the battery
Turn the ignition on. There will be a very brief flick of warning lights. What you are actually doing is draining any residual voltage.
Reconnect negative connection on battery.
Turn ignition on again and hopefully, problem solved
This worked for me and I never had any more problems with the temperature gauge again.
Hopes this works for you.
RM

 

[beemerdave]

Hi, I have had this problem with the temperature gauge. I cured it by doing the following:
Disconnect the negative lead of the battery
Turn the ignition on. There will be a very brief flick of warning lights. What you are actually doing is draining any residual voltage.
Reconnect negative connection on battery.
Turn ignition on again and hopefully, problem solved
This worked for me and I never had any more problems with the temperature gauge again.
Hopes this works for you.
RM

Could be the answer to my problem...
I have a Fiat 2.8JTD Maxi engined A class motorhome and recently whilst on a trip abroad, my temp gauge shot up to max, so we stopped for the night at a layby in Belgium, and in the morning found no overheating signs on the engine but the gauge just does not work anymore.
My question is, if I remove the neg from the battery as advised, and switch the ignition on, would it mess up my Cobra alarm system?

 

[K13ehr]

I have the same problem on my temp gauge, and have a Sigma m34 alarm, so I have to ask the same question as Beemerdave for some reason never got a reply.

Also is there any new thinking on this old temp gauge problem before I dive in and break something expensive?

Kev.