temp light stays on - First Generation Forum

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temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 8:56 AM
hello I have a 1987 cavalier with the 2.0 motor and an auto trans . I just replaced the headgasket , now the temp light will not go off , I have replaced both sensors and disconnected the battery to reset the ecm and it still stays on , what am I missing here. Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks

Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 12:21 PM
both sensors are located in the thermostat housing, one for the light and one for the gauge. did you happen to change or replace the conectors on the wiring harness? if so you could have switched them by mistake. this possibly be your trouble. it has something to do with the ohms. shot in the dark.
Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 1:15 PM
on mine one has 2 wires and one has 1 wire you cannt mix them up thanks
Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 2:45 PM

sorry i was going from memory there. i just knew they were close together.i think if the connections bad or unplugged the light will stay on. what does your gauge read
Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 3:10 PM
no gauge ,It just has the idiot light , but the radiator is not hot to the touch ,I am baffled
Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 6:19 PM
When the engine gets too hot the sensor basically grounds out and sets the idiot to glowing. Sounds like a possible short in the circuit. The clue to me is that you disconnect the sensor and the light stays on.You may have pinched the wire or scraped the insulation off somewhere and it is touching the chassis. Hopefully this will be an easy fix for ya.



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Re: temp light stays on
Saturday, April 06, 2013 10:28 PM
Instead of chasing a problem my take.I would take the single terminal connector off(this is for the dummy light).Then cut the wire at least five inches back.Then strip the wiring and run a new wire and hook up to the sender.See if the light goes off.I am laying odds it is just the terminal is crappy on the sender not wiring screwed up wayy further being the the issue was NOT present prior to this.I do not want to over think this and the terminal probably is just toast or if you can cheat and sand paper the end enuff to make it ground on the sender do not bother cutting the feed wire for it and try that.I am kinda tired but,this should be a simple fix not chasing the wire back to the cluster.Ok SIMPLE think this route to fix it,instead of over analyzing.



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