Hi,

Got two issues with two of my gauges and wondering if anyone has some bright ideas on what could be wrong. Both are Smiths Telemtrix gauges(white with orange dial and aluminium rounded bevels). Both are electric gauges.

Oil Pressure- when you put the ignition on the oil pressure gauge dial goes right upto 10, it works fine when engine runs but never used to do this until recently

Water Temp - barely ever works but will rather randomly come on, go up to the temperature, fluctuate and then go down to zero. Its not very important as the R1 clocks also have the temperature as well. If it makes a difference its fitted into the top hose which has silicone hoses at either end. would the sensor need to be earthed or just the single terminal go straight to the gauge?

Cheers
Adam

If the temperature sender has only one wire then it would need an earth to work

Thats what i thought so i fitted a ring connector which sits between the top pipe and the sensor like a washer and is then connected to the chassis. Il check the connection again with a multimeter just incase. Or would you earth it another way?

I have the same issue with my oil pressure gauge(exactly the same type) so will be interested also to find out the answer.

Are you using a hose connector with a boss for the sender unit? Would have thought it may be better to earth the connector if that is the case, at least you should be able to get a good connection

Check the ground connection on the back of the gauge really is grounded properly

Rusty nuts - do you mean the oil pressure sender? if so its screwed into the oil cooler bolt so surely has a perfect earth.

Lewis - did yours start fine ie at 0 till you start the engine and then develop the fault to jump to 10 before starting?

Yes exactly that then when the engine is warm it settles down to mid point.

Generaly it's an earth fault, usually caused by people using ptfe tape, the sender in the hose and the person with oil temp issues (if it's in a take off adaptor in the hose) usually needs a separate earth from the adaptor.