Well first of all I paid Jeff Smith Nissan ( Warner Robins, GA ) charged me 90 bucks to check it out and from what I gather the test that they do is ground the wire and it is suppose to spike the gauge to the hot side. Well that didnt work so they said I had a break in the wire running inside. Not true because I took my V.meter and tested the wire and it is good. Can the gauge be replace individuly from the cluster or do I have to get a whole new cluster from a junk yard and hope that it works? I tell ya that service department is shady...and thats not the first time they have bent me over either Well it wont happen anymore!!

 

The guage can be replaced. It is a gas/temp guage combo. The problem is either the temp sending unit that is under the hood right by the distributor (VG), or the temp guage in the instrument cluster.

 

How much would it cost to replace the sending unit.

It was weird for me to see this thread. Yesterday afternoon, I dropped off a prescription at my local drugstore and left my car running. When I came out, my temp gauge needles was resting on that little peg. I went to eat with my parents last night and mentioned it to my dad. The first thing he said, was "sounds like the sending unit is shot." Maybe so.

 

ok I will try the sending unit first of course because it will be the cheapest... it looks pretty new looking but who knows. Hasnt been changed since I had the car and it hasnt worked since I had the car either. Is there anyway to test the sending unit? If there is let a brotha know!
Thanx
Kev

 

It's not "your" sending unit. The test they did at the dealer is to determine if the sending unit it bad. By them grounding the wire, they're eliminating the sending unit and your gauge didn't move so that's telling you it's something besides the sending unit. And I have to agree with you, they did bend you over. For $90 that equal to about 1.5hr for labor depending on their labor rate. For them to ground the wire must have took less than 30sec. Are you sure they didn't remove your cluster and tested the gauge to determine there was a broken wire, because for 1.5hr labor I hope they did.

 

No they didnt take my dash off and check my gauge because I told them to let me know what the problem was and call me and if it wasnt too much I would fix it. They never called and all I got was a big fat bill and they said that it was probably my temp guage, my sending unit, or the wire going inside..{well hell I knew that already } I will visit the local graveyard soon and see if I cant find one and hope that it works. Thanx for the input though.