wonky oil and temp gauges
10-02-2019, 02:39 PM
#1
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wonky oil and temp gauges
It all started when I hooked a 200 amp battery charger to my 97 F150. Since then the oil pressure gauge and the temp gauge are totally wonky. Sometimes when I first start up, the oil will read normal and the temp will read normal. At some point, maybe after 10 miles, the oil pressure will peg high, and the temp will go low, or they will be oil pressure low and temp pegged high. I don't notice that the charge gauge is affected, and the gas gauge seems okay. Both the speedo and the tach behave normally. Today, the temp gauge was acting normal for a while until it got about half way, then peggged itself high. Do I just replace the instrument cluster, or is there some other gremlin at work?
10-05-2019, 12:05 AM
#2
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There was a thread this summer, "New Batt Now everything is Dead..", started 07 19 2019, that you might want to review. The gist of it was that a faulty alternator can lead to all kinds of weird gauge problems. You state that you charged your battery. Was that because it seemed weak and you had starting problems? If so, a bad alternator could be the culprit. Good luck.
10-11-2019, 03:08 PM
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used the battery charger before I changed the alternator. Gauges have been strange since the charger and continued after the alternator change. This has gone on for some time now, and is only a problem when the temp gauge goes high and the oil pressure gauge drops (when the engine gets warmed up), then the oil pressure light shuts the engine down (or maybe the transmission).