Temp gauge no reading

barshnik

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2004
153
0
2001 D2, 62k miles

All was well until returning from a short drive, noticed the red light above temp gauge was on, and temp gauge was all the way down. Smelled coolant. At home, expansion tank was empty, noticed source of leak was the throttle body heater. I'm afraid there was no coolant left anywhere in engine. Filled with water, restarted, noticed pencil-lead sized blowout from throttle body heater. Made a bypass, refilled coolant.

Now when first started, the temp gauge moves all the way up, then after a couple seconds drops all the way down to nothing. The red light above the gauge stays on.

Seems to run normally, but no temp gauge reading and red light never goes out. I've got to assume it has something to do with running it dry of coolant for a brief time, but can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks,

John F
LV NV
 

barshnik

Well-known member
Oct 13, 2004
153
0
Easy fix - disconnected battery for 5 minutes, hooked back up, now all seems to be working as it should. No more leak, and so far appears I didn't crack a block or loose a sleeve. I won't be trying to put it a new pre-heater kit any time soon. Our temperatures rarely fall into the freezing range, and very low humidity. Bypass it is!

John F
LV NV
 

MNinWI

Well-known member
Dec 19, 2007
83
2
You have about the same number of miles on yours as I had on my 2003 D2 when my head gaskets started to go. Coolant consumption was one of the symptoms, so watch your coolant level.