GU TD42 Dash temp Gauge problem

[Tip12345]

Help all .
I am having some problems with the Temp Gauge in my truck . It will sometimes go from 1/2 way to all the way in a split second .
I then stop and get out and check with my non contact thermometer . and it ant the case !!! I just for fun replaced the thermostat and temp sender . But it still not playing nicely
with the other bits . Any ideas . Thinking of pulling the dash and sending away for test and repair .

[MB]

Personally Tip Mate I’d suggest you’d be better off investing firstly in a decent aftermarket numbers gauge and attend to our woeful GU OEM ones when time and money permits as a backup thereafter.
From stock healthy new and perfect earth wiring they are horrible at best with my own tests across a few finding roughly 1/2 < > 2/3 a dead spot on the needle from some 70C < > 105C rise and fall IIRC.
Consensus with others found too appears to be they were designed in like that on our GU TD42/T/i’s for owner peace of mind without alarming of such large fluctuations?



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[mudski]

Moving that quick I reckon theres either an earthing issue an eleccy issue of some sort. Not just the engine overheating...

[MB]

Crikey, well done Mr Mark, have been searching to hopefully assist and you’ve jooged my nuffy noggin mate! It was Darren @MudRunnerTD I believe that had his OEM guage down on Tassie adventures do the same incorrect fast flick up IIRC. Pretty sure it was well before Balfour Track sludge radiator issues too?


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[mudski]

Yeah could even be just a dodgy contact on the back of the dash. But i do know the earlier GU's like ours are renkown for shitty earth contact which will wreak havok in different ways.

[jff45]

I second the 1st suggestion of getting a real temp gauge, especially for a TD42. Probably also cheaper than getting the whole dash cluster tested..

[Tip12345]

well the engine is not overheating . bottom radiator tank is barely warm .
Down the injector area about 78C .
Looks like the VDO man in Melbourne is not there . Just a recorded message grrr
I need the tacko . repaired as well so will get the whole job done .
I might go looking for the earths and maybe run a couple of extras .
I do have a bit of kit to test the gauge so will dig it out and have a play .

[MudRunnerTD]

Crikey, well done Mr Mark, have been searching to hopefully assist and you’ve jooged my nuffy noggin mate! It was Darren @MudRunnerTD I believe that had his OEM guage down on Tassie adventures do the same incorrect fast flick up IIRC. Pretty sure it was well before Balfour Track sludge radiator issues too?


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Yeah i had this issue. Drove me nuts and i did not have a second gauge to cross check. It really got in my head and to this day i lack a little confidence. I replaced the sender twice and got no joy at all. I decided that the error must be in the loom somewhere. I have a Solid Earth too Body and Too Chassis and too Motor. I know this is not the fault. I believe it is behind the dasha nd i was not willing to find it. Just not worth it.

My fix.... I removed the factory sender completely. This makes the factory gauge redundant and now is dead. I used the factory Sender position (Optimum Position) to install an Redarc Digital gauge and willl not look back. It is a pretty big learning curve and it is a direct reading of every degree of change but i just need to get my head around the range of use now.

It could cost a mountain of time and money to fault find it so i made it redundant.

[MudRunnerTD]

well the engine is not overheating . bottom radiator tank is barely warm .
Down the injector area about 78C .
Looks like the VDO man in Melbourne is not there . Just a recorded message grrr
I need the tacko . repaired as well so will get the whole job done .
I might go looking for the earths and maybe run a couple of extras .
I do have a bit of kit to test the gauge so will dig it out and have a play .

What is wrong with your Tacho? This is a very easy repair and i have had to do this too. 20 minute job mate. If you are handy then do this yourself as you will pay through the nose.

If you do pay an Auto Elec please come here and tell us how and where he found the Temp error...... Or do what i did above.

[Cuppa]

Yeah i had this issue. Drove me nuts and i did not have a second gauge to cross check. It really got in my head and to this day i lack a little confidence. I replaced the sender twice and got no joy at all. I decided that the error must be in the loom somewhere. I have a Solid Earth too Body and Too Chassis and too Motor. I know this is not the fault. I believe it is behind the dasha nd i was not willing to find it. Just not worth it.

My fix.... I removed the factory sender completely. This makes the factory gauge redundant and now is dead. I used the factory Sender position (Optimum Position) to install an Redarc Digital gauge and willl not look back. It is a pretty big learning curve and it is a direct reading of every degree of change but i just need to get my head around the range of use now.

It could cost a mountain of time and money to fault find it so i made it redundant.

First up it looks like an electrical fault to me. I have a similar issue with fuel gauges, both main & sub. Am convinced the issue is on the circuit board behind the dash. 90% of the time it reads correctly , but can suddenly lose half a tank in 30 seconds - but I've learned to live with it now, but always record the mileage when I fill up just in case.

Anyhow ..... just wanted to comment that it can be very useful to have more than one temp gauge. (oil pressure gauge too) When I fitted my Redarc temp gauge/oil pressure gauge I fitted the temp sender to a different location than the factory one, & the oil pressure gauge, I used a t piece for the sender unit, retaining the factory sender too.

Whilst in Tassie (perhaps there's a Tassie jinx) I had a couple of weeks where the Redarc temp gauge was telling all sorts of worrying fibs, which turned out to be the connector on the rear of the gauge having come slightly loose. Was reassuring to have the factory gauge sitting in it's usual stationary position & not heading skyward like the Redarc!

When driving in the Mornington Wilderness Camp property off the Gibb River Rd, the oil pressure alarm on the redarc sounded, scaring the whatsit out of me. It was registering zero pressure. It was stinking hot & no shade, but I felt Ok continuing on until we found somewhere to park in the shade some kilometres further on, because the factory oil light had not come on. When we did stop & I looked under the bonnet I found that the corrugations had completely destroyed the redarc sender unit. It was a number of weeks later, after a couple of thousand more remote kilometres that I got a new sender unit in Kununurra & all was good again. If it had been our only oil pressure gauge I'm not sure what I'd have done. Driving with no oil pressure gauge over the boulders & jump ups of the Munja track is probably not something I would have considered.