[C320-list] Temperature Gauge

[Rick Sulewski]

Ronnie,

I just replaced my temperature gauge and the temperature sender located on
the fitting that is on top of thermostat housing my Westerbeke engine.

I experienced the same problem a couple of years ago with a pegged temp
gauge but discovered that I had accidentally grounded out the temperature
lead when I replaced the valve cover after adjusting the valves and
inadvertently pinched the temperature sending wire between the engine block
and the valve cover. Once I removed the wire and taped up the damaged wire
that had created a direct ground, the temp gauge worked fine. Then this past
summer the temp gauge pegged again and there was no evidence of a former
ground problem against the engine block.

I pulled the thermostat just to be on the safe side while the water
temperature in Lake Erie was in the 70s.  Last week I finally got around to
replacing the gauge and the sender. The problem was not the sender but the
gauge. I replaced the sender first since it was time drain the block to
freshen the antifreeze since I needed to reinstall the thermostat with the
lake water temperatures declining. The temperature gauge replacement is
straight forward with 6 screws to remove the instrument gauge panel and then
removal of the gauge leads with one of the leads on the gauge centering
bracket. Total time to replace both the sender and gauge takes less than 15
minutes.

My temp gauge has a black background and can be purchased from Catalina thru
Seaward, West Marine or most any yard marina store can order one - cost
about $39 and the temp sender unit cost only $20.  I bet the sender could be
purchased from NAPA like many diesel engine parts such as the fuel pumps,
etc, but got mine at local marina yard store.

Hope this info is helpful.

Rick
My-Ria #277


-----Original Message-----
From: c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com
[mailto:c320-list-bounces at lists.catalina320.com] On Behalf Of
Ronniew326 at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, October 15, 2011 9:22 AM
To: C320-List at Catalina320.com
Subject: [C320-list] Temperature Gauge

 
The engine temperature gauge on my 1996 vintage Yanmar 3GM30F seems to have 
 gone haywire.  When turning the key on the gauge needle pegs  itself all 
the way over to maximum hot even though the engine cooling system  seems to 
be working perfectly well (no blockages in the strainer, normal water  flow 
coming out of the exhaust, no apparent overheating of the  engine).  I ran 
the engine for several hours on a cruise last weekend, and  except for the 
gauge, all was normal.
 
Thinking that there might be a wire connectivity problem (corrosion)  
somewhere I spent some time the next day cleaning all the wire ends and  
terminals in the gauge with sandpaper.  Still no luck.  So I'm  thinking
that either 
the gauge is broken and will need to be replaced, or  perhaps the wires at 
the engine side are either loose or corroded.   The only problem is I don't 
know where the wires on the engine side are  located.  Any suggestions would

be greatly appreciated.
 
Ronnie Williams
s/v Banana Wind   #326