Eliminare dancing temp gauge when turn sigs are on???

[ray_]

15 hours ago, John76 said:

 Solved the problem ... never did find the original cause.

 

 

 

I think the original cause is resistance.

 

You're welcome! 😁

[calw]

11 hours ago, jimk said:

For what it's worth - when the small ground strap between the fender and the battery has poor connections or is in bad shape, the devices on the body that need ground to the battery take the current, the voltage will find another route through the instruments connected to the engine.  It then uses the main engine ground strap to the battery.  In the case of the turn signals, the temp gauge goes high. (C'mon @calw help a mechanical out).

Fix it and the signals will be brighter too.

Analyzing exactly which wire in that old corroded harness isn't doing it's job is beyond mortals, sorry Jim. Electrons follow the past of least resistance, and yes, the temp gauge and it's needle can be that path.  The 2020 wiring harness was marginal when new, and any interrupted connections or corrosion anywhere in the connections can cause unintended consequences.  Grounds seem to be the most frequent offenders. If someone took the time to do circuit analysis of the entire harness, I think we'd find out that the ground wires are the most highly stressed part of the design.

 

Yes, Ray, resistance is the problem.  There was no German resistance in WW2 but there certainly is in a 50 year old 2002.

 

Generic advice:    Cleaning any and all ground connections, replacing ground wires with larger gauge wires, and adding any number of extra grounds has never damaged a single 2002 and can solve goofy electrical problems.  Even replacing the crimped on terminals at the ends of wires sometimes helps- frayed wires at the terminal or pesky unseen corrosion inside the crimped connection has driven some people mad at times.   Original wiring harnesses are also filthy in their golden years, and carefully cleaning the wire harness will lead you to find frayed insulation or broken wires that were hidden under the grime.

[Mike Self]

6 hours ago, calw said:

Even replacing the crimped on terminals at the ends of wires sometimes helps- frayed wires at the terminal or pesky unseen corrosion inside the crimped connection has driven some people mad at times.

A famous place for this on an '02 is the brown ground wire that grounds the alternator to the engine block, bypassing those rubber alternator mounts.  The wire looks great, but vibration over the years have broken the wire strands under the insulation and terminals, to the point where only a few strands remain to carry the entire amperage generated by the alternator.  Have you checked yours?

 

mike