Hello again,
I was driving to my parent for christmas eve and I looked down and my temp gauge was all the way on cold. I knew it wasn't cold because I had been driving it for a while and it was up a little ways before. I shut off the car and it still stayed down. I also noticed that part of the tach sometimes is dim (at night) and then sometimes it's brighter. Could this be my cluster going out? I noticed that if I shut off the car and then turned the key to "on" that the temp gauge would move maybe 1/16 of an inch and stop. I'm just guessing it's the cluster since it seems nice and warm and they way the lights on the tach gauge are acting. Any help is greatly appreciated!

 

as far as your temp gauge being inaccurate, it could be for a couple of reasons. if you can obtain a scan tool, you can see exactly what the pcm is reading. you can compare the temp readings from the scan tool to your gauge and vica versa. you can possibly have a t-stat problem as well. as far as the fuel gauge being not illuminated all the way, you may have a burned out bulb. highly doubtful that your cluster is going bad.

 

yah, to me it just sounds like some of the bulbs in the dash might be on the way out if they're dimming, as for the guage for the coolant not coming up all the way i would think that that would be the t-stat or the coolant temp sensor, not the cluster causing the guages not to work.

for the guages sounds like you just need to pull it apart and put new bulbs in back there

 

that is correct. lower your steering wheel all the way and pull on the panel around the gauges. you need a 7mm socket to remove the two screws that hold the instrument cluster in. pull the top of the instrument cluster all the way down and pull out. there is a connector to the gauges on the top right. just remove it and you have access to the bulbs in the back of your cluster. most of the bulbs are a 194.

 

hey, if they're 194 bulbs you could put different color ones in if you wanted to

 

I always thought those new clusters were sealed and there was no way of replacing anything in them. I don't think it's a thermostat because you can tell it's really warm by the temperature of the heat coming from the vents. Also, it was operating temperature right before the gauge just crapped out. It seemed to go down too fast if the thermostat would have stuck open. Is there a way to test if it's the thermostat? Where is the coolant sensor and how much are these scan tools or can an auto parts store do this?

I'm starting to think that it's the thermostat. I just remembered when I was coming back home it took FOREVER for it to warm up inside the car. I had the heater on high and it just didn't seem to want to get warm. Where does your temp gauge run at? Is it in the middle or quarter the way up? (3.8L)

 

i think the clusters use leds

easiest and most certain, but longest, and least fuel efficent way to check your thremostat is to:
1- let your car idle for half an hr or so
2- note where the temp gauge is at, and vent temp. at max heat
3- drive at steady highways speeds for a couple miles
4- note where the temp gauge is at, and vent temp. at max heat again.

if the themostat is good, temps will be similar

if its bad, temps after idling will be much warmer than while driving at speed.

 

Hey, that's a really cool way of checking it. I never thought of that. I knew my little infrared temp thingy was going to come in handy.

 

well with that method ya dont really need a temp gun, using a temp gun u could just point and click at your thermostat housing when ever you think its acting up to see if it agrees with your gauge

 

good point,
I've had it running for about 15-20 minutes now and my temp gauge hasn't moved and the thermostat is about 85 or so. What I find odd is that my cooling fans are running. Those shouldn't be on, should they?Could it actually be a bad coolant sensor causing that? Where is the coolant sensor located?

I also checked the temp of the heat on max after 30 minutes and it was barely 70 degrees. I'm guessing this is the thermostat?