[suzukiboy]

The last couple of days the water temp gauge needle in my Vitara has been jumping up and down from half to nothing.

Anyone had this happen?

Would this be a faulty instrument or the temp gauge on the manifold?

[royce]

I'll wager the spade terminal on the sender is loose on its rivet, tap it tight with a chisel (lightly) and it should come good

[christover1]

Loose earths or wires could do that.
Not just sender, but motor earths, cluster earths etc.

[shandy92]

i had this issue with my last sensor, replaced it and it came good. then last nite driving down the freeway my gauge starts having a fit and i thought i must of been getting air pockets or loosing coolant etc. pulled over not a drop anywhere, had a look at the terminal to see only a 2 wire connection on the terminal , clamped it to get home. put a new one on to day = good as gold.

[suzukiboy]

Thanks for the reply will try a few.

[eXc450]

I had this issue - was a short from where an engine mount rubbed on the wiring harness. It also caused other issues.

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