Coolant temp and Speedo Gauges acting weird of 95 SC.. Need advice...

phils89sc

Registered User
Hello Everyone,

I just installed my new aluminum radiator from Rock auto, and am please with its performance. I am pretty sure that my factory radiator fan is having issues as my low speeds seems to work, but the high speed spins at the same speed.. Very weird.

Anyway, after replacing my radiator, burping the air from the system and getting it all done, I noticed a couple of weird things.

1. When the fan comes on, it seems to draw a ton of current from the electrical system as the lights will dim, and you can 'feel' the extra drag on the engine from the alternator.
2. When the fan comes on during driving (idle), or bumper to bumper traffic, it will kick on at or around the 'M' in normal. When it does this, as soon as the fans starts, the temp gauge needle will jump to between 'M' and the end of the gauge sweep!!! The engine doesn't overheat, but it will freak you out for a second as it triggers the 'Check Gauge' light in the cluster.

Kinda not related to the the above, and this happens all the time, my speedo is always 5 mph over. The tire size I am running are 235-55-16". From tire comparison charts, the speedo error should be less than 1mph off at 30-50mph, roughly. Mine is off by 5-6mph at any given speed. The only thing I could think of is the speedo needle has been moved and not put back in the right spot, or, at some point in time before I got the car, the transmission had been swapped and the gear for the speedo in the trans is not correct. I guess another alternative is that the differential gear is not factory.

Any thoughts on these things? For the temp gauge (I know the factory gauges suck), could it be the cluster voltage regulator? Could I have bad grounds somewhere?

Thanks again everyone.
 
I think that kind of gauge action, especially after the system has been opened, typically indicates air in the system.

If you're confident the system has been fully purged, you might want to use an IR temp gun on the thermostat housing to verify that the stock temp thermostat is working properly.

Did you install a new 16# radiator cap?
 
I think that kind of gauge action, especially after the system has been opened, typically indicates air in the system.

If you're confident the system has been fully purged, you might want to use an IR temp gun on the thermostat housing to verify that the stock temp thermostat is working properly.

Did you install a new 16# radiator cap?

Thanks for the reply. I did use a laser thermometer on it. The fan comes on right around 215 or so and cools it down quickly. It is a 16# cap.

Side note: Today, I smelled coolant. I popped the hood and found that my new radiator cap seems to be leaking a bit. It will be fine for a few minutes, then it will spit out a small dribble of coolant and then stop. I am pretty sure I don't have any HG issues as I have nothing coming from the tail pipes, no oil in my coolant or coolant in my oil. This cap is one I bought from Orielly's. I stopped to NAPA at lunch and bought another one with a safety release. I will install that before my trip home after it cools down.
 
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