As Barney says the stabiliser must be screwed to a ground connection,
usually the bulkhead behind the dash on the right-hand side, and they do
have a correct orientation. The two wires are coloured green (fused
ignition 12v supply) on the B terminal and light-green/green on the L
terminal. When first turning on the ignition you should see full battery
voltage on the light-green/green for about 2 or 3 seconds, then it should
start switching on an off a couple of times a second (the actual ratio will
depend on things like ambient temperature, whether the alternator is
charging etc. The higher the system voltage the longer the stabiliser
outputs 0 volts). The stabiliser also feeds the fuel gauge, so if it were
faulty this would also be reading high. However if the temp gauge is going
up to full hot as soon as you turn on the ignition it isn't the stabiliser
that is the problem (which will only cause the gauge to read high, not full
scale), more likely the problem is the sender short-circuit or wire between
it and the gauge (green/blue) shorting to ground. With the gauge connected
and the wire disconnected from the sender you should see the same voltage
conditions as I describe above. With it connected to the sender and the
engine cold you should see much the same peak voltage, maybe a bit lower.
As the engine warms up the peak voltage will gradually reduce. The fuel and
temp gauges are the same and the senders have much the same resistance
characteristics, so swapping over the green/black and green/blue wires at
the gauges will tell you whether it is the gauge (unlikely) or the
sender/wire to it.
PaulH.
----- Original Message -----
> ... While doing that, it sounded like a good time to get the
> original temp gauge back in place and operational. The reason I replaced
> it with a bourdon unit was because it would make its way up to full hot
> and stay there until the car was shut off.
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