Cliff Ruckstuhl

My delma is getting narrowed down to what I hope is a simple fix. Drivng the car tonight after installing a new battery I noticed my temp gauge would move up and down when I turned on the lights and and moved the windows up and down. So I am quessing it is a ground problem. I am told ther is a instrument cluster ground down by the hood release lever and will check that tomorrw. Any place else I should check??

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Jeremy Himsel

Cliff,

I thought we discussed this already but did you check the engine grounds???? I kind of get the feeling that your avoiding doing so. I will almost bet that your battery to engine ground cable is cracked.

What is happening to your car is very common and is almost always a ground issue. I've even seen the temp gauges fluctuate when a blinker was on or the brake was applied.

Cliff Ruckstuhl

Yes we did sorry for the repeat.

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badass951

If it just happened after you installed your new battery, I would check all of the ground connecting to the battery. The ground on my battery, towards the side nearer the engine bay, caused my temp gauges to fluctuate.

Cliff Ruckstuhl

I spent a little while cleaning all the grounds, the one on the bell housing is a little tough. I can losen it and have it lose, but since I can not get my hands on the bolt I am very reluctent to take it all the way out for I am sure it will drop down somewhere. Then getting it back on will be even tougher since I can not reach it with my hands. Does any tool maker make a 10 mm socket with a magnetic end in it so it will not drop down?? I though of useing some of the stuff used to install new winshields since it is pretty sticky but I hate to spend $20.00 for something I only a few inches of.

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Cliff 88 951

dand86951

Cliff do you have any silly putty? Put it in the socket and experiment with a bolt to make sure it will stick. Also you can get a magnet on the end of an expandable rod that will stick to the head of the bolt and then you can lift it straight out, available at most auto parts stores and cheap. Indispensible item when working on our cars.

Jeremy Himsel

Cliff, Good catch. On the rear of the bell housing is the speed and reference sensors as well as the TDC inspection holes. If you can, cover these holes when you remove the ground bolts. There have been many guys who have dropped nuts, bolts, washers, and tools and had to pull the bellhousing to recover them........

Cliff Ruckstuhl

I found a place on the net that sell's a magnet that goes into a socket and I have ordered it and will finish when I have it. It is a pretty cool set up. I found it buy typeing in Magnetic Sockets on Google and it was the first site that came up.

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