Technical Marea 16 sx weekend temp gauge problem

[evilweevil]

Hi all, just got a great 2000 (W) weekend 100 sx 16v petrol. Love the car BUT noticed that the temp guage is very, very erratic!! Starts fine, runs great, but after 10 mins or so the temp guage climbs right to the top - but not all the time!!!! When the gauge max's out if I turn off the engine and restart immediately the gauge returns to the middle position?? Any ideas? thanks in advance.

 

[polecat]

Hi and welcome to our forum.

Sounds like a faulty temp sensor or possibly a sticky thermostat.

If you do a search on thermostat there will be several threads with solutions/checks for this.

Good luck.

 

[evilweevil]

Thanks for that, I think it may be a faulty sender - when I have been running the car and turn it off it does not smell "HOT", no oily pongs etc and no loss of coolant. When I turn the key to light up the dash - BUT NOT start the engine (after being stood for 1 hour) the temp gauge goes straight to half way. 54 seconds later it just rockets to the max - but the engine is not running!!!!! Fan seems to cut in from time to time, car runs well, sometimes the revs are up and down but more or less stable. Can someone shed any light on this?? Thanks

 

[fbarcode]

Hi,

Try hitting the gauge on the dashboard a few times (not to hard ) works for me...

 

[polecat]

That sounds like either a faulty sender or a wiring fault/loose wire, etc. Check that the plug shrouds are secure and that no water can get in. Otherwise get the sender tested.

 

[evilweevil]

Thanks for the replys people. Went to my local auto electricians, they put the diagnostics on. All engine management is fine - seems the gauge(s) are faulty. Apparently Fiat changed supplier and there are faults with the new ones. They have now switched back to Morelli. You cannot buy a single gauge - you have to buy the cluster....£360.00. (!!) However you may be able to pick them up for @£100 from a scrapyard.

 

[polecat]

Ouch.
Good luck finding one.

 

[Ozric-Al]

Definitely the cluster. Well known problem amongst Bravo owners too. May be worth atking it out and cleaning all the connections at the back as that has helped a few.

If you can post a pic so we can see if it's the same as a JTD cluster I may be able to get you one dead cheap. I know where I can get a brand new JTD cluster for £40 plus VAT!

 

[billybug]

Theres a guy on here breaking two Mareas, maybe he can help, i've emailed him about a new headlight for mine.

 

[Ozric-Al]

Theres a guy on here breaking two Mareas, maybe he can help, i've emailed him about a new headlight for mine.

Headlights have gone Billy.

Are yours polys or standard?

 

[ravennexus]

thanks guys, this has a helped reassure a friend. i'll have to pull her cluster apart and and make sure all contacts are clean.

she bought a marea a few weeks ago, when she turns it on cold the gauge is showing just below half on the gauge, once warm it hovers around the red mark, around that mark the cooling fan goes on and off normally.

it's been worrying her enough that she took it to a garage the other day and he changed the temp sender behind the head and from that point on the injector light was on and fan running all the time. Whist servicing it for her today i pushed the connector into the new sender properly which turned the light and fan off. this just re-enforces my opinion that garages suck and people should learn to do everything themselves like me