Help: Guage Freaking Out

[workin' diesel]

So my pyro freaks out sometimes. I will be driving and the needle will suddenly spin and flikker and just go all around. Stop for a few seconds and then do it. At some point it will not do it at all and operate fine. Checked the wiries going into the back of the guage and all along to the probe. No open spots in the wiring. Looks good. Could it be getting inrterference? Or is it maybe the guage itself. I have noticed what looks like minor concensation on the inside of the glass. They are Sunpro Guages.

 

[silvrmax04]

mine did that. I wound up replacing the probe and don't get that problem any more but my temps seem to have gone way down. It is cold here but it used to never get below 400 at idle and now it will idle at 200. I can still peg it when I get on it so I don't know. The condensation doesn't sound good though.

 

[workin' diesel]

Mine at idle will get down to 250-225. I almost wonder if has to do with the brand.Not s good as Auto meters.

 

[cdbright]

my auto meter took a crap, it was doing the same thing and i couldnt find a short anywear, and when removing the sensor it stripped out so we tossed it and started over w a new one, allll good now:woott:

 

[Rosscup]

mine dose the same thing some times.. wtf

 

[Whitetail Addict]

Check the ground. When my Autometer did something similar it turned out to be a ground issue.

 

[Rosscup]

ive checked and checked i think ill try getting a different gauge

 

[fctry286]

probes are known to fail. if your gauge goes to say 1500 and the probe is rated for 1500 and your always around the high end of the gauge the life of it is considerably shorten. get a probe that is rated for 2000 or so. this just happen to me, my gauge was freaking out then just stopped working all together. found out the probe was fried. you could also try pulling it out and cleaning the soot off of it.

 

[RoboF16]

My Autometer pyro is doing the exact same thing now.

 

[workin' diesel]

I disconected the ground wire and retightened it and now it seems to be fine! see how long that will last.

 

[jc64]

My mechanical gauge would freak out every once in a while. The cable from the probe to the gauge has a metal mesh (shielding?) around it. Well the shielding was touching metal and shorting out. Moved it, and problem solved.

Question, what kind of life are you all getting out of your K-Type probes?

jc

 

[RoboF16]

My problem turned out to be the ground.
Here's the response sent by Auto Meter, good stuff.

The first would be to ground the pyrometer directly to the engine. The pyrometer is very particular about the ground, and grounding to the engine will be the best available ground on the vehicle. This will be better than any chassis ground or even the negative terminal on the battery.

Next, check with a voltmeter that you have at least 12 volts between the red power wire and the black ground wire while the vehicle is running. It is very important you are getting over 12 volts for normal operation.

The last thing is to check the calibration of the gauge itself. To do this, remove the two probe leads from the back of the gauge. Power the gauge on. You should see the pointer sit between 0-100F. If it does not, I recommend sending the gauge in to be looked at by our service department.