Water Temp guage problem

[CastleMGBV8]

I have a mechanical guage in my MGB V8 It's been reading low for a while but this morning before seeting off for the pod I warmed up the engine and the guage hardly moved at all.

I check coolant level and waited till the thermostat opened and made sure the rad header tank was getting as hot as usual and that the fans were cutting in as required, still virtually no reading on the guage.

Is it likely to be the guage itself, or possibly just the bulb type sensor in the manifold and how would you check.

Kevin.

[davemgb]

Assuming you have not got an electric gauge but the original MGB or MGB V8 type the bulb and gauge are a single sealed system and you have to change it as a single unit.

Only practical check if the engine being too hot to touch while the gauge says cold is to extract the bulb and put it in a boiling kettle.

Dave

[RoverP6B]

Hello Kevin,

On the occassion that my electrical temperature gauge failed to read correctly (hardly moving at all to show temperature increase) in my P6B, I replaced the temperature sensor in the inlet manifold and the problem was solved.

The same problem also happened to another P6B owner that I know, and the solution was the same.

Ron.

[CastleMGBV8]

Thanks guys, I just did a search on the MG Enthusiast BBS archives and the symptoms I had match the usual failure of the mechanical combined gauge/sender bulb so it's time for a new gauge unfortunately.

I'll need to get it changed quickly as it will be important to have accurate temp readings when I'm running in the cam on the new engine.

Kevin.

[mgbv8]

Kev
You need to stop putting tap water in and use Tesco's Scottish mountain spring water. )

[CastleMGBV8]

Perry,

I used to be partial to the bubbly stuff but mainly fron the Reims region

Kevin.