bad tempt gauge

Snake Bitten

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I need a tempt gauge for my 96, just want to take one from another cluster but the clusters for these are too much $. Are there any other Ford cars or newer mustangs I can take one from because they are a lot cheaper
 

mwolson

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Are you sure your gauge is bad? Use a pot to test it. Find a 200 or 500 ohm pot and set it to 10 ohms. Disconnect the temp gauge sensor wire and put the 10 ohm pot across the harness pins or from the sensor wire to ground depending on which style you have. Turn the key on and it should read right at the hot mark. As you raise the resistance of the pot the temperature should read lower.

While you are doing that, I will do a writeup on how to swap the temp gauge from a GT cluster for you.
 

mwolson

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Here's how you can replace a defective 94-98 Cobra temperature gauge with one from a 94-98 GT or V6 cluster.

Assuming you will get your donor gauge from a pick-n-pull style lot:

Remove the donor cluster from the car.

Remove the clear cover from the cluster.

Pry the Temp/fuel gauge module out of the cluster.

Using a common dinner fork, carefully pry the needle off of the gauge shaft.

Remove the two screws from the back of the temp gauge and remove the temp gauge movement from the cluster.

At this point you have your donor gauge movement.

Remove the Cobra cluster from you car.

Remove the clear cover from the Cobra cluster.

Make sure your hands are clean so you don't leave fingerprints on your Cobra gauge faces. Nitril gloves are not a bad idea.

Pry the Temp/fuel gauge module out of the cluster.

Using a dinner fork with a paper towel under it to protect the Cobra gauge faces, carefully pry the needle off the temp gauge.

Carefully remove the two screws on the back of the Cobra temp gauge, taking care not to damage the fuel gauge needle, shaft or face on the other side of the module.

Remove the Cobra temp gauge movement.

Install the temp gauge movement from the donor cluster, again taking care of the stuff on the other side of the module.

Put the Temp/Fuel gauge module back into the cluster. Do not put the clear cover back on yet.

Plug the cluster back into the car without the mounting screws.

Set the pot as close to 9.7 ohms as your ohmmeter can get.

Unplug the temp sensor and connect the pot across the two pins in the harness or across the connector and ground in the one wire cars. Make sure the signal wire is not shorted to anything, especially ground.

Turn the key on and carefully put the needle on the shaft so that it points at the H mark on the gauge. Don't press the needle on too far because it will bind on the gauge face and not give a correct reading.

Turn the key off and remove the cluster from the car.

Carefully put the clear cover back on the cluster and then resinstall it in the car.

FYI, if anyone does swap the Temp/Fuel gauge modules from one Cobra cluster to another (or GTs for that matter) make sure you swap the little fuel anti-slosh PCB module below the gauges too. The anti-slosh board and the fuel gauge were calibrated together at the factory and mixing them will screw up the calibration.
 
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Cobranator

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I just went through this last week. In my case it was the temp gauge sensor failing. My temp gauge was erratic when engine was up to full operating temperature. It would swing from left to right for no reason, almost like pendulum swinging. After testing the temp gauge and finding that it was OK I bought a new temp gauge sensor and now the gauge works perfectly like it always has.
 

Snake Bitten

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Here's how you can replace a defective 94-98 Cobra temperature gauge with one from a 94-98 GT or V6 cluster.

Assuming you will get your donor gauge from a pick-n-pull style lot:

Remove the donor cluster from the car.


Remove the clear cover from the cluster.

Pry the Temp/fuel gauge module out of the cluster.

Using a common dinner fork, carefully pry the needle off of the gauge shaft.

Remove the two screws from the back of the temp gauge and remove the temp gauge movement from the cluster.

At this point you have your donor gauge movement.

Remove the Cobra cluster from you car.

Remove the clear cover from the Cobra cluster.

Make sure your hands are clean so you don't leave fingerprints on your Cobra gauge faces. Nitril gloves are not a bad idea.

Pry the Temp/fuel gauge module out of the cluster.

Using a dinner fork with a paper towel under it to protect the Cobra gauge faces, carefully pry the needle off the temp gauge.

Carefully remove the two screws on the back of the Cobra temp gauge, taking care not to damage the fuel gauge needle, shaft or face on the other side of the module.

Remove the Cobra temp gauge movement.

Install the temp gauge movement from the donor cluster, again taking care of the stuff on the other side of the module.

Put the Temp/Fuel gauge module back into the cluster. Do not put the clear cover back on yet.

Plug the cluster back into the car without the mounting screws.

Set the pot as close to 9.7 ohms as your ohmmeter can get.

Unplug the temp sensor and connect the pot across the two pins in the harness or across the connector and ground in the one wire cars. Make sure the signal wire is not shorted to anything, especially ground.

Turn the key on and carefully put the needle on the shaft so that it points at the H mark on the gauge. Don't press the needle on too far because it will bind on the gauge face and not give a correct reading.

Turn the key off and remove the cluster from the car.

Carefully put the clear cover back on the cluster and then resinstall it in the car.

FYI, if anyone does swap the Temp/Fuel gauge modules from one Cobra cluster to another (or GTs for that matter) make sure you swap the little fuel anti-slosh PCB module below the gauges too. The anti-slosh board and the fuel gauge were calibrated together at the factory and mixing them will screw up the calibration.
Not to sound too stupid what does "pot" mean ?
 

Snake Bitten

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If I plug a different cluster in and that temp gauge works would that be a test for mine being bad ?
 

Snake Bitten

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I pulled a volume control from a old home stereo and was able to set it at 9.7 Ohms would that work ?
 

Snake Bitten

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I hooked up the donner cluster in and the temperature gauge jumped up to high. So I guess that means my wiring is good ?
 

mwolson

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That means your wiring is good, although that test won't show an intermittent problem.

Did you try the original cluster to see what it did?
 

Snake Bitten

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The temperature gauge never worked in the original cluster ,hasn't worked since I had the car
 

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