Since I have had this car the temperature has not gone over 85 degrees C. I have had no dash lights so today I removed the Instrument Panel and soldered the back of the dash light potentiometer. Presto I had dash lights.

After replacing the IP I started the car up and I didn't notice anything strange. The tack worked and I had oil pressure. I went in the house to let the car warm up (5 to 10 minutes) and I was going to drive the car for 20 miles to warm up the transmission so that I could make some adjustments on the transmission. Well when I went to get in the car the water temperature gauge was pegged. I checked the fluid level and it was where it should be. Since the only thing different was that I had taken the Instrument Panel out I decided to take it back out and recheck my installation. I could not find anything wrong, so I reinstalled it.

I restarted the car and it showed 89 degrees C. The needle quickly started going to 120C. I again shut off the car and checked the engine. The engine did not seem overheated. I had no problem removing the radiator cap from the fill tank. I could touch the valve cover and leave my hand on it.


Is there any possible connection between the Water Temperature gauge and the Light Potentiometer? Does the electric fan on the front of the engine come on when the engine over heats? It’s not coming on now.

Bill