The temp gauge in my 1998 863F is not working. all other gauges seem to work fine. It's a needle dial type. Any common problem areas with these? Where should I start looking?
In general (not familiar with bobcats) a temp gauge is pretty simple. Either the sender, or the gauge, or a disconnection in between. Usually you find the sender, if the wire's hooked up and you get nothing from the gauge, then disconnect the wire and ground it to the block, if you still get nothing then you need a wiring diagram, or start tracing wires.
Most sensors you can test by simply getting an ohm reading when cold, then check it as the engine warms up, if the ohm reading isn't moving much the sensor is probably bad. Easiest way to test the wiring is by using a loadpro lead on a DMM. A power probe is another way you can test the wiring quickly and easily. You can test the gauge by attaching the wire to a potentieometer that is grounded and then vary the resistance and see if the gauge follows. The actual resistance you will need depends on the application, factory manuals may say. If you test the sender and the wiring and both are good you can probably skip the gauge and just assume it is bad unless you know the specs and have the stuff sitting around to test it, up to you.
disconnect the sender, jumper the 2 wires in the harness, key on, the guage should be "pegged" to full hot. you are testing the guage and wiring at this time. if it doesnt "peg" disconnect the wiring at the guage and jump it at the guage. if it pegs now, the problem is in the wiring if it doesnt, the guage is probably bad :drinkup
thank you for the responses! I haven't yet done anything about diagnosing this problem. busy with multiple projects... does anyone know where the sensor is on this engine? the service/repair manual shows the location of the tachometer but not the temp sensor. Haven't actually looked for it beyond the manual. this is the oil cooled Duetz engine.
eng temp sender is located behind the inj pump on the rh side of the engine. :drinkup