Gauge Cluster Acting Up

[Varnell]

Alright, so I put in a euro gauge cover. I didn't disconnect the battery and while screwing the cluster back in I saw the temp gauge needle jump. It no longer works. Honestly, I was fine with that, but my spedometer needle just dropped dead while driving. It jumps on occasion now.

I lost one of the screws, the lower right screw hole is not tight as it should be. Is that messing with the ground? How can I fix the temp gauge?

Edit: The speedometer needle is working again now. Must be the ground. The temp gauge is still dead.

Edit2: Now the spedo needle is at 45, even with the car off.

Edit3: Found the screw. With everything tightened back up I got my speedometer back. My lights also came back on. I'm guessing I fried my thermostat still?

 

[lashlee]

Though it could be related to many things, I would verify that your old cluster still works. There could be many things that are effecting your cluster from a faulty ground, bad sender, a different circuit or sender, as well as polarity. Once you find out how the original cluster acts should lead you to see where you need to look towards next.

 

[Varnell]

Thanks for the response. I blew a couple fuses, but I have the stock cluster back. Everything is running fine now, but I know I blew whatever powers the temp gauge. Is there a fuse for that, or do I need to replace the thermostat?

 

[lashlee]

If I remember correctly the temp gauge in the cluster is fed by the sensor in the top of the thermostat housing, on the 4 cylinder. There are two different, one for the cluster and one for the ECU. Either way if the cluster one isn't working replacing the thermostat shouldn't matter. If there is a fuse for it I don't know where it would be, but I haven't spent alot of time looking at the electrical prints in some time.