1988 Dodge Temperature Gauge Has A Mind Of Its Own

[Tom Norman]

I'm working on a 1988 Dodge Class B, with the Ram 350 chassis. It has the 360 V8, with 55K miles on the clock.

Here's my problem: The temperature gauge has a mind of its own. It "normally" runs one notch below the mid-way position between "C" and "H". But frequently the temperature gauge stops working, and the gauge needle drops down off the gauge to way below the "C". There is no pattern of it doing this. The gauge will work fine for several hours, then stop working. Sometimes the gauge will indicate way below the "C" when I first start the engine,and stay there. Then, eventually, the needle moves up to the "normal" position, one notch below the mid-way position between "C" and "H". After driving a while, sometime the gauge works fine, and then it stops working, and then starts working again.

I'm thinkig the sending unit has gone bad, but thought that I'd check and see if anybody on the forum had this problem and "been there, done that".

[Tom Norman]

I'm working on a 1988 Dodge Class B, with the Ram 350 chassis. It has the 360 V8, with 55K miles on the clock.

Here's my problem: The temperature gauge has a mind of its own. It "normally" runs one notch below the mid-way position between "C" and "H". But frequently the temperature gauge stops working, and the gauge needle drops down off the gauge to way below the "C". There is no pattern of it doing this. The gauge will work fine for several hours, then stop working. Sometimes the gauge will indicate way below the "C" when I first start the engine,and stay there. Then, eventually, the needle moves up to the "normal" position, one notch below the mid-way position between "C" and "H". After driving a while, sometime the gauge works fine, and then it stops working, and then starts working again.

I'm thinkig the sending unit has gone bad, but thought that I'd check and see if anybody on the forum had this problem and "been there, done that".

[Paul]

I have a 91 Mallard MH with a 360 . A friend and
I overhauled the engine .replaced piston rings and heads reworked . we did it with out removing the engine . (never again)
When I started the engine everything worked fine but the temperature gage . I replaced the
sending unit , It still didn't work . I took it to a small garage that does good work. They informed me that this engine has two sending units . It turned out that I broke a wire pulling and tugging wire bundles to get the heads off. If I recall, they only charged about forty or fifty Dollars.
Paul

[Tom Norman]

UPDATE: It's fixed. A new temperature sending unit was installed today. While installing the new sending unit it was noted that the connector was loose and corroded. The connector was cleaned and tightened. The temperature gauge now works normally. Thank you for your helpful advice and suggestions.