Temp Gauge showing very HOT

[KonnecTour]

I have a 1997 Ford Contour, V6, East coast, auto w/ air. After over heating and the temp gauge not working and error codes, I replaced the water pump, thermostat, temp gauge sendor, engine temp sendor. The cars seems to run fine, except the temp gauge, once warmed up, stays on the L (in the N-O-R-M-A-L) gauge. I would probably think this would be a blown head gasket or even a cracked head (because of the over-heating) except the thermostat doesn't open until the gauge is on the A and the fans don't come on until the L. So since the stat and fans are working but just at a higher area on the gauge that they should, maybe it is the gauge or even a bad sendor I put in or maybe I wrapped the sendor in too much teflon tape and it is not making a good connection. I've seen a TSB on the gov't's web site about the temp guage reading too high, but I can't get any details about it (TSB #98166, NHTSA ID #609735).

Is this reading too high (the dealer says they all run hot - which I don't believe)?
Does anyone else have this problem?
What are the solutions?
What are the details about this TSB?

Thanks

Ford knew about this problem day one on the assembly line and let ever contour built on the road just go down the assembly line. GM and Ford are still doing this. Letting cars go down the assembly line with problems. Every and I do mean Every Contour is doing this. Thank God Honda and Toyota is here in America to give Americans other choices. Let's hope that the new contour (Ford Fusion) doesn't have the same problem.

 

[FIND]

Ford knew about this problem day one on the assembly line and let ever contour built on the road just go down the assembly line. GM and Ford are still doing this. Letting cars go down the assembly line with problems. Every and I do mean Every Contour is doing this. Thank God Honda and Toyota is here in America to give Americans other choices. Let's hope that the new contour (Ford Fusion) doesn't have the same problem.

:nonono:

L in the temp range isnt that hot. It is in the 195 range. As long as the engine isnt going into the red then its fine. The engine runs efficiently at that temperature, and if you read a temp gauge in your precious honda and toyota you would find that they run the same temperatures, as does any other vehicle when you arent driving in freezing weather. Why would your first post of a CONTOUR enthusiasts group site be bashing Contours?

 

[zorrex]

Ford knew about this problem day one on the assembly line and let ever contour built on the road just go down the assembly line. GM and Ford are still doing this. Letting cars go down the assembly line with problems. Every and I do mean Every Contour is doing this. Thank God Honda and Toyota is here in America to give Americans other choices. Let's hope that the new contour (Ford Fusion) doesn't have the same problem.

You are a ing idiot. Go away.

 

[jdfet]

To get back on track.... lol. Mine is doing it too! It normally ran at about the 'A' and after putting in a new water pump, it sits a little higher now, right at the 'L'. The temps were checked and the fan is working properly and with in speck as it should. I believe it is just they way these things were put together. They all seem to run high on the guage. By the way, about to hit 100,000 and it is still running very strong! I have had it (96 I4) since it was 10k old and hope to get much more out of it. Cool little car!

 

[BrApple]

as stated many times in the past the coolant temp guages are not calibrated per say, yes they should show the range the temp is in but they are not number specific. bottom line each guage is slightly different depending on the possition of the needle. if the cooling fans are turning on at the correct 212 degree temp and the car is not over heating then I wouldn't worry to much about it, just keep an eye on things.

also my 95 zetec seems to be running hotter then in the past. guage would always sit in the middle not its to the higher side. but checking with an inferred thermometer everything is fine and the fans run when they should

 

[oldsalt]

For your info...

For your info...

I had a problem with my CSVT when one morning I started it and the temperature gauge slowly went completely over to the max high temp position. I knew it had to be only an instrumentation problem, so I bought a new sending unit from NAPA and installed it. Well, after completing repairs I fired her up and drove it around to get the engine up to normal operating temp and the temp gauge didn't stop until it reached the "L" in "NORMAL" now I was somewhat alarmed but I was also not completely trusting the new sending unit, it wound up being a really hot day so after my drive home from work in plenty of stop and go traffic I let it sit and run for about 20 minutes and the temp cycled slightly when the fans would come on and off but remained up at the "L". So I decided to replace the sending unit with one from Ford and when I did the temp gauge began reading perfectly normal right in the middle of the "RM" in NORMAL" so I talked with NAPA and they said that the unit I bought was also standard replacement part for like 22 other vehicles! and not all of them were Fords meaning it was only a "ball-park" range not an exact replacement. Problem is with parts which operate off of resistance it don't take much to push you "out-of-range" when using non-OEM close-enough parts. The aftermarket manufacturers do this to cut down on the number of parts they need to produce thereby increasing their profit but unless your particular installation happens to fall in the middle of the range for that aftermarket sending unit you are going to have a false reading, and if it falls on the low side you are going to have a real problem when it does overheat it will actually be hotter than the gauge indicates. Lesson here is to buy from the OEM for this part, it's only a few bucks more but well worth it.

 

[Pale Horse]

Well put OldSalt! I agree completely here....

 

[jjwb55]

mine normally is pegged between R and M. But the last week or so it is sitting about N and O. I've never seen it past M on mine.