Pull the wire off the temp sending unit and ground it with the key on ...if it maxes out the gauge then the fault is in the sending unit...if nothing changes with the gauge then the gauge is at fault or a wiring problem.

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DanT

You really should have a shroud on there....the engine temps will get pretty danged hot in the summer without one.

As Dan says, check the temp sender first to make sure it is even plugged in...the connectors sometimes fall off due to age. If it is connected, unplug it, and ground the wire to the engine block(or something that will give a good ground). With the key on, and the sender wire grounded, the gauge should peg HOT. If it does not, there is a problem in the wire to the gauge, the circuit board(on the gauge cluster), or the gauge itself.


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

You will need the shroud Mine had a shroud that the former owner had hacked up and it was missing the upper half. Car ran at 220-230 continuously in the summer even on the freeway. Replacing the shroud helped a lot but I am now thinking of an electric fan.

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C3: 1979 Corvette Coupe, Auto, L-48, Red/Doeskin (my wife's fave);