spectre6000
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- Broomfield, CO
Regarding the coolant sensor for the warning light (the one at the front of the DS cylinder head):
I made sure to buy the correct sensors for warning lights versus gauges all around, but I'm beginning to think I might have received the wrong sensor in this application.
If I start the truck and let it idle forever, the coolant temperature warning light won't really come on (at least I've never just sat there and let it idle that long). If I manually rev it a bit from the engine compartment I can get it to come on though.
If I start it from stone cold and drive, I can't even get a mile before the light comes on. Earlier this evening in an effort to test it, I started it up and revved it a bit in the driveway. It didn't come on, but the second I backed out of my driveway (not even 20 feet), the light came on.
It doesn't come on full bore immediately, but starts out very dim. So dim that I have to use my hand to cast a shadow it verify that it is, in fact, actually on. If I continue driving it a bit, it will get to a certain level of brightness and sort of stay there. This brightness is not as bright as it will get though. If I intentionally trigger it, it's brighter.
I tried to test it with a multimeter. My thought was that I should see full resistance with it cold and the light off, then I should see the resistance fade as it gets warmer or increase as it cools. It pretty much just stayed a steady resistance within a range that could be explained by the lack of stability of the test leads.
Can anyone confirm or refute my diagnosis of a gauge sensor in place of a light sensor? Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have any idea what tests could be performed to confirm or deny my diagnosis?
As an aside, I'm pretty sure my timing is a bit on the advanced side. The test equipment is en route, but I don't think timing being too advanced could really cause it to start reading too hot that quickly... I could be wrong. Just throwing this out here since it's another thing I'm dealing with simultaneously.
I made sure to buy the correct sensors for warning lights versus gauges all around, but I'm beginning to think I might have received the wrong sensor in this application.
If I start the truck and let it idle forever, the coolant temperature warning light won't really come on (at least I've never just sat there and let it idle that long). If I manually rev it a bit from the engine compartment I can get it to come on though.
If I start it from stone cold and drive, I can't even get a mile before the light comes on. Earlier this evening in an effort to test it, I started it up and revved it a bit in the driveway. It didn't come on, but the second I backed out of my driveway (not even 20 feet), the light came on.
It doesn't come on full bore immediately, but starts out very dim. So dim that I have to use my hand to cast a shadow it verify that it is, in fact, actually on. If I continue driving it a bit, it will get to a certain level of brightness and sort of stay there. This brightness is not as bright as it will get though. If I intentionally trigger it, it's brighter.
I tried to test it with a multimeter. My thought was that I should see full resistance with it cold and the light off, then I should see the resistance fade as it gets warmer or increase as it cools. It pretty much just stayed a steady resistance within a range that could be explained by the lack of stability of the test leads.
Can anyone confirm or refute my diagnosis of a gauge sensor in place of a light sensor? Has anyone experienced this before? Does anyone have any idea what tests could be performed to confirm or deny my diagnosis?
As an aside, I'm pretty sure my timing is a bit on the advanced side. The test equipment is en route, but I don't think timing being too advanced could really cause it to start reading too hot that quickly... I could be wrong. Just throwing this out here since it's another thing I'm dealing with simultaneously.
