Temperature gauge still not working

I replaced both the front and the rear engine coolant temp sensors and my gauge still isn’t moving when engine warms up. Any ideas?

 

the single wire sending unit is the one for the combination meter temp gauge, ground it and see if the needle goes full H.

 

Get a scanguage if you want to know the real temperature and a lot more.

 

By chance did you use any sealant on the threads that are now keeping it from grounding ??

Did you get the correct sending unit for your year( not enough coffee yet) I know some are different in different years

 

Did not use a sealant on the threads and it’s an exact match of the one I pulled out. Maybe thinking it’s a bad wire connection. Will test it and see if the gauge moves at all.

 

The temperature shown by a scangauge is as real as accuracy of the rear temperature sensor . If the sensor is garbage the scangage will show garbage data (and the engine will go nuts too as the rear sensor is used by ECU).

If temperature sender (the one with one pin) works correctly, the temp gauge on the dash is actually very accurate and sensitive for your situation awareness. The needle will not move until the engine temperature is above the closed loop point. And if it is above the center of the scale you should start paying attention. I never tried it, but if you suddenly loose all coolant, then both sensors will be useless and you fry the engine before you say "oh shit".

 

Tested the ground wire and gauge still hasn’t moved. The wiring didn’t seem to have any visible damage or loose connections.

 

Yep, my Sienna was driven with no cap. Emptied w/o the gauge ever moving. Smelled anti-freeze burning.

 

My truck has 2 sensors. One for guage one for ecu

 

Does anyone know where the fuse is located for the temp gauge on a 2001 Tacoma?

 

Looks like the GAUGE fuse on my 2000.

 

Are you getting voltage at the yellow red wire going to the sensor?

 

I have not checked. Don’t have a voltage reader yet

 

If you've got a 12v light bulb you could makeshift a test light.

 

Do you know where the fuse would be located. Tired looking up which one it is and I couldn’t find a specific location

 

Was there not one under the dash or under the hood labeled 'GAUGE' like previous guy mentioned? Dunno how it gets any easier than that. Either of the fuse box covers should have the circuits labeled.

 

None of them are labeled “gauge”

 

On mine its the top middle fuse in the fuse box by driver's left knee. But it would be good to check your owners manual ( https://www.toyota.com/owners/resources/warranty-owners-manuals/tacoma/2001 )

 

Different year gave different fuse locations (Thank you Toyota). I do not have diagrams for 2001 model but it looks like 2001 has the same fuses setup as 2003:



2000 Tacoma has different setup:

 

Checked all the fuses and took apart the dash cluster just to see. Cleaned all connections and made sure nothing was loose. Still stuck on cold. Maybe the temp gauge is bad?