Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Tach, temperature gauge, turn signal related?

Yesterday I noticed that my temperature gauge was almost not working. It would read below the N most of the time, and would periodically jump to the O-R. At one point, I also noticed that my tach was jumping like crazy, bouncing between 0 and 3k. While the tach was jumping, I tried to give a left turn signal, and the flash indicator was flashing about twice as fast as it should. After a couple of minutes, the tach and turn signal returned to normal, but the temp gauge is still reading low.

What's going on? Wiring problem somewhere? Fuse problem? Battery problem? Is there a common denominator with all three of these symptoms?

The car in question is the 95 mystique. It is an early manufactured car, which has the mechanical speedometer, and electrical vss. Incidentally, the speedometer worked fine, and the gas gauge was fine.

For the temperature gauge, I had the same problem, all you need to do is replace the Temp gauge sender. For duratecs, it is located under the TB a few inches. I'm no mechanic, but it kind of sounds like there is a bad ground for your interior problems. Hope that helps somewhat.

Okay, it looks like I've moved to phase two. This morning, on the way to work, the tach started acting crazy again, the temperature gauge dropped all the way to the left, and neither turn signal would work. When I tried to give either a left or a right turn signal, I got a loud humming noise, which appeared to be coming from under the dash. After about a minute, the tach started working again, but the temp gauge isn't working, and the turn signals aren't working. No noise, no nothing......I haven't had a chance to even look at it yet..

Okay, phase three. I drove to town, and bought a multi-meter, and then drove home (25 miles). The turn signals were working, but slowly, and dimly. The tach was working, but the temperature gauge was not. When I got home, I checked the voltage at the battery posts, while the engine was running. The voltage was 9.6, or thereabouts. Ugghhhh I turned the car off, and when I tried to start it again, the battery was dead. It appears that either the battery is gone, or the alternator isn't charging. I've got a charger connected to it right now.

What's next? It's a sealed battery, so I can't check the battery density.

I charged the battery overnight, and this morning it was reading 12+ volts before I started it. The car started fine. For a few minutes after I started it, the battery registered 14+ volts, and then it slowly eased down to about 12.5.

While working with the battery, I kept checking the turn signal lights. At times they work perfect, at times they work, but slowly and dimly, and at times they don't work at all.

Also, with the battery in the car, but with the car not running, I checked the voltage at the big terminal on the alternator. It was reading 12.8, which was the same as the battery voltage at that time. I interpret this as meaning that the wiring going from the battery to the alternator is okay, and also that the mega fuse is okay. Right?

Ideas? Suggestions? Right now I'm leaning toward an intermittent short in the wiring/steering column/turn signal assembly.

One other thing. The battery light in the instrument cluster is illuminated when I first turn the switch to the on position, which means the bulb is not burned out. But, when the car is running, the battery light is NOT illuminated, which I think indicates that there is nothing wrong with the charging system. Even with the battery nearly dead, the battery light stays off. What exactly does it mean when the battery light is on? Bad alternator/charging system? Bad battery?

Thanks for any ideas.

I removed the alternator Saturday, and took it to an electrical repair shop today. It was definitely bad. It is now rebuilt, and I hope to get it re-installed tonight. That thing was sure a pain to remove. Maybe the installation will go smoother than the removal.

Alternator is installed, battery is charging properly. Turn signals are working properly. Temperature gauge is acting kinda flaky. I've ordered a new temperature sender.

For what it's worth, even though the alternator was dead, the battery warning light in the dash did not illuminate while the engine was running. It did illuminate when I first turned the key to "on", but not after I started the engine. So much for a "warning" light.