Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
- jkbreazeale
- Regular Member
- Posts: 209
- Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 10:00 pm
- Location: Wilmington, NC
Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
On my B6ME, when the car idles the temperature gauge works fine, upon acceleration, the gauge drops, the faster I go, the lower it drops. Is this a bad ECTS or possibly a notoriously bad ground?
1993 MX-3 RS (my project car) http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3815854 <- Check out my Cardomain!
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
- umcamara
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 1892
- Joined: June 12th, 2007, 3:15 am
- antispam: No
- Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
Not to be a smart-a--, but this seems like your radiator doing its job.
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
Nope, in my gs if i gun it sometimes in neutral and sometimes in gear the needle spikes down on the temp gauge and back up.
1993 Blaze Red SE, 17" blackie's, b+m sts, 45 deg 3" exh pipe/intake tube, K8ZE, aftmkt probe headers, magnaflow hi-cat, all 2.5" piping, magnaflow muffler.
1976 Datsun 620 p/u, full airride, Firestone 2600`s, 16ga fuel cell, Optima yellow top, AZ compressor, custom tubular frame with 9in step notch, 18" 100 spokes
1955 Willys Overland 4x4 P/U, '78 LT1 350 cu.in, fully restored.
- umcamara
- Supporting Member
- Posts: 1892
- Joined: June 12th, 2007, 3:15 am
- antispam: No
- Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
The point is that the original post was not very descriptive and didn't include anything about it doing this in neutral aswell.
- Nd4SpdSe
- Senior Member
- Posts: 11212
- Joined: May 25th, 2002, 2:01 am
- Location: Québec City, Quebec, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
Simply, the faster you move, the more air that passed through the radiator. The more air that passes through, the more it can cool down the coolant. Reason why you need a rad fan, to move air when you're not physically moving.jkbreazeale wrote:On my B6ME, when the car idles the temperature gauge works fine, upon acceleration, the gauge drops, the faster I go, the lower it drops. Is this a bad ECTS or possibly a notoriously bad ground?
The faster you rev, the more coolant the waterpump moves through the system. Eventually you working the motor creates more heat, so the temp goes back up.93vtecklr wrote:Nope, in my gs if i gun it sometimes in neutral and sometimes in gear the needle spikes down on the temp gauge and back up.
1992 Mazda Mx-3 GSR - 2.5L KLZE : Award Winning Show Car & Race Car ['02-'09] (Retired)
2004 Mazda RX-8 GT - Renesis Wankel : LS3 Coils, BHR Mid-Pipe + Falken RT-615K 245/40r18
2011 Mazda Mazda2 GS - 1.5L Manual : Yozora Edition (1 of 500)
2003 Nissan Xterra SE - 4x4 Supercharged : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift & 33" MTR Kevlar
2001 Nissan Frontier SE - The Frontrailer : Expedition/Off-Road Trailer Project
2004 Mazda RX-8 GT - Renesis Wankel : LS3 Coils, BHR Mid-Pipe + Falken RT-615K 245/40r18
2011 Mazda Mazda2 GS - 1.5L Manual : Yozora Edition (1 of 500)
2003 Nissan Xterra SE - 4x4 Supercharged : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift & 33" MTR Kevlar
2001 Nissan Frontier SE - The Frontrailer : Expedition/Off-Road Trailer Project
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
I get what you're sayin, but then everybody here would have that happen. I'm talkin the temp needle shoots down and spikes up faster than the rpm gauge does. Could it be a faulty temp sensor getting a sudden reading of cooler fluid doing this?
1993 Blaze Red SE, 17" blackie's, b+m sts, 45 deg 3" exh pipe/intake tube, K8ZE, aftmkt probe headers, magnaflow hi-cat, all 2.5" piping, magnaflow muffler.
1976 Datsun 620 p/u, full airride, Firestone 2600`s, 16ga fuel cell, Optima yellow top, AZ compressor, custom tubular frame with 9in step notch, 18" 100 spokes
1955 Willys Overland 4x4 P/U, '78 LT1 350 cu.in, fully restored.
- Nd4SpdSe
- Senior Member
- Posts: 11212
- Joined: May 25th, 2002, 2:01 am
- Location: Québec City, Quebec, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
Well, most people don't really pay attention to their temp guage, but also, the temp gauge going down isn't a bad thing, why would people complain about it?
There is the slight possibility of a bad sensor, but it's not common for them to fail, and that's a weird way for them to fail. If it's dropping a few points, than I say no, but if it wants to drop to 0, but it doesn't get a chance and comes back up, than it could be an intermitent bad connection.
If it does down and up predictably when you revving the car in neutral, it won't be electrical, it's too predicable for that.
There is the slight possibility of a bad sensor, but it's not common for them to fail, and that's a weird way for them to fail. If it's dropping a few points, than I say no, but if it wants to drop to 0, but it doesn't get a chance and comes back up, than it could be an intermitent bad connection.
If it does down and up predictably when you revving the car in neutral, it won't be electrical, it's too predicable for that.
1992 Mazda Mx-3 GSR - 2.5L KLZE : Award Winning Show Car & Race Car ['02-'09] (Retired)
2004 Mazda RX-8 GT - Renesis Wankel : LS3 Coils, BHR Mid-Pipe + Falken RT-615K 245/40r18
2011 Mazda Mazda2 GS - 1.5L Manual : Yozora Edition (1 of 500)
2003 Nissan Xterra SE - 4x4 Supercharged : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift & 33" MTR Kevlar
2001 Nissan Frontier SE - The Frontrailer : Expedition/Off-Road Trailer Project
2004 Mazda RX-8 GT - Renesis Wankel : LS3 Coils, BHR Mid-Pipe + Falken RT-615K 245/40r18
2011 Mazda Mazda2 GS - 1.5L Manual : Yozora Edition (1 of 500)
2003 Nissan Xterra SE - 4x4 Supercharged : 2" Body Lift, 4" Suspension Lift & 33" MTR Kevlar
2001 Nissan Frontier SE - The Frontrailer : Expedition/Off-Road Trailer Project
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
True. True.
1993 Blaze Red SE, 17" blackie's, b+m sts, 45 deg 3" exh pipe/intake tube, K8ZE, aftmkt probe headers, magnaflow hi-cat, all 2.5" piping, magnaflow muffler.
1976 Datsun 620 p/u, full airride, Firestone 2600`s, 16ga fuel cell, Optima yellow top, AZ compressor, custom tubular frame with 9in step notch, 18" 100 spokes
1955 Willys Overland 4x4 P/U, '78 LT1 350 cu.in, fully restored.
- jkbreazeale
- Regular Member
- Posts: 209
- Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 10:00 pm
- Location: Wilmington, NC
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
Wow...
I understand the air passing through the radiator and that the needle would drop like a mm or two, however when I gas the car, the needle drops to near the cold line, I live in North Carolina, not Canada so the air is not that damn cold. This is not normal and I know this, just not what it is... looking for guidance.
I understand the air passing through the radiator and that the needle would drop like a mm or two, however when I gas the car, the needle drops to near the cold line, I live in North Carolina, not Canada so the air is not that damn cold. This is not normal and I know this, just not what it is... looking for guidance.
1993 MX-3 RS (my project car) http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3815854 <- Check out my Cardomain!
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
- jkbreazeale
- Regular Member
- Posts: 209
- Joined: October 23rd, 2008, 10:00 pm
- Location: Wilmington, NC
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
also, it only seems to happen when in gear, not in neutral.
1993 MX-3 RS (my project car) http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3815854 <- Check out my Cardomain!
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
1995 MX-3 RS (wife's project car)
-
- Regular Member
- Posts: 1603
- Joined: March 6th, 2007, 1:17 pm
- Location: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (USA)
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
We just replaced the thermostat on my grandmothers car, so you might try that. Though, her problem was a lot different, and was just that the temperature gauge fluctuated from being all the way at the bottom and cold, to in the middle and fine (and it did this at random times.. not RPM related or anything like that).
-
- Senior Member
- Posts: 5554
- Joined: August 25th, 2004, 2:01 am
- Location: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Re: Is it ECTS or Bad Ground???
I would bet reasonable sums of money that this is an electrical problem. The signal being sent to the gauge by the sending unit is changing drastically in a very short period of time. That is not explained by normal cooling...or even erratic thermostatic function.
The difficulty is that a broken wire can be very difficult to nail down. There should be a single wire from the temp sender to the temp gauge. If you can try to test the continuity of that wire. Try it while wiggling stuff around to make sure that continuity isn't intermittent. From there I would change the sender.
The difficulty is that a broken wire can be very difficult to nail down. There should be a single wire from the temp sender to the temp gauge. If you can try to test the continuity of that wire. Try it while wiggling stuff around to make sure that continuity isn't intermittent. From there I would change the sender.
94' RS/GS/MS/CF Monster Turbo...coming soon.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.
93' GS SE, the Black Beast, the former love of my life...soon to be gutted and crushed.
94' GS, black on black, now in several small pieces...and one large crushed piece.
2007 Mazda3 GT Sport --- super fun
2004 Honda RC51 --- Lost forever to some theavin' bastard
My Worklog
My feedback thread
Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity.