Pinot
Nurburgring
- Joined
- 3 Feb 2010
- Messages
- 381
I thought this might help to expand the knowledge base, as it appears I'm not the only person to have the alarming experience of their oil temperature gauge jumping to the top of the red zone. 
The first time this happened, I had visions of an expensive engine rebuild but before I could pull over the needle dropped back to its usual position. I continued my journey, keeping one eye on the gauge throughout but the needle remained steady.
A little research on here pointed to a faulty gauge or sender. When the problem repeated itself, a tap on the glass caused the needle to return to the correct position, suggesting the gauge was the culprit. Over time, the gauge begun to misbehave more frequently and with the car off the road during lockdown, it was time to tackle the problem.
Other people's posts indicated the likely fault was poor solder joints on the gauge's circuit board.
Having removed the gauge from the dash,
I undid the four screws on the back and used a thin electrical screwdriver to gently prise the circuit board out of the case. I didn't need to touch the clips on the two large pins towards the centre of the gauge.
You can see the muck on the circuit board and the contacts in the gauge.
After carefully cleaning everything up, I turned my attention to the four large pins on the circuit board, which can be seen better in this picture.
I removed all the bulbs and re-soldered round these pins before putting the gauge back together.
Following extensive road testing, I am delighted to report the oil temperature gauge now behaves as it should.
The first time this happened, I had visions of an expensive engine rebuild but before I could pull over the needle dropped back to its usual position. I continued my journey, keeping one eye on the gauge throughout but the needle remained steady.
A little research on here pointed to a faulty gauge or sender. When the problem repeated itself, a tap on the glass caused the needle to return to the correct position, suggesting the gauge was the culprit. Over time, the gauge begun to misbehave more frequently and with the car off the road during lockdown, it was time to tackle the problem.
Other people's posts indicated the likely fault was poor solder joints on the gauge's circuit board.
Having removed the gauge from the dash,
I undid the four screws on the back and used a thin electrical screwdriver to gently prise the circuit board out of the case. I didn't need to touch the clips on the two large pins towards the centre of the gauge.
You can see the muck on the circuit board and the contacts in the gauge.
After carefully cleaning everything up, I turned my attention to the four large pins on the circuit board, which can be seen better in this picture.
I removed all the bulbs and re-soldered round these pins before putting the gauge back together.
Following extensive road testing, I am delighted to report the oil temperature gauge now behaves as it should.
