I got sick of waiting for the computer to turn on the fan on
my '94 sc2. It waits too long. I got a thermostat
switch from jc whitney that is adjustable and clamps on the
radiator. I set it to turn on the fan at a little over halfway
on the temp gauge. Now the engine is much happier, and I have
backup!
Fred
"Orin Day" > wrote in message
...
> Yesterday night I was driving my 2002 SL2 (35K miles, just out of
> warranty) home and noticed the temp gauge pegged in the red. Yikes!!!
> The fan was running and the engine was running smoothly, so I figured
> thermostat, I was almost home anyway...
>
> I let it cool off overnight, in the morning the coolant level was right
> where it should be, no sign of leaks or overflow, and plenty of coolant
> in the lower hose.
>
> Started the motor, and cold it immediately jumped to 3/4 temp, then as the
> motor warmed up it crept into the red.
>
> Called the oh-so-helpful Saturn dealer (who had already replaced the BCM
> and engine coolant temperature sensor this year) - they couldn't look at
> it for several days, so I took it to a local shop.
>
> Local shop thought it was a sensor associated with the gauge, they ordered
> one. Went to pick it up this afternoon, they said all the sensors were
> fine, that the temp was right around 190, the BCM was sending 190, but the
> gauge refused to read the right temp. As the instrument cluster is a
> single board, their diagnosis was that the gauge was bad on the cluster.
> And that only the dealer could provide a new cluster, probably for about
> $1.2K. Yikes!!! The rest of the instrument panel was tested and is fine.
>
> Needless to say I was not happy, even less happy was my wife (who drives a
> just-out-of-warranty 2001 LW300 when it's not in the shop).
>
> Called the dealer, no help there, they said that they'd never seen a gauge
> fail, but they'd be glad to rediagnose it for another $100 or so before
> replacing the cluster for $500 plus labor plus tax. No help offered,
> despite the low mileage.
>
> So I'm weighing my options. Even if I liked the dealer, they wouldn't be
> getting a grand from me for a gauge!
>
> Used clusters seem to be not much, at least from what I see on eBay, so
> next stop may be my local junkyard. Failing that, perhaps a stand-alone
> gauge?
>
> OD
>
>
>
>
> --
> Orin Day | Women's Basketball Photos at http://www.dwhoops.com
> lobster @ |
> lobsterdevil | no quote today
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