Temp gauge sender, it can be fixed!

[Thomas Tornblom <Thomas.Tornblom@Nexus.SE>]

Good news all audiphiles.

My temp gauge has been flaky for a few months, crawling up when
warming up only to drop dead at normal engine temperatures.

Today I bit the bullet and bought a new one @ SEK 875 (~ US $135),
ouch!

When I replaced the old one I thought it felt light and empty
considering its size. As I'm a curious type I opened it up, prying the
brass edge around the connector. I gently pulled the innards out, and
out came a little PCB with some soldered components, some transistors
a few diodes and some resistors, plus a small ceramic board with an IC
on it. I saw that a few solderjoints were looking suspicious (read
really bad) and resoldered them. I greased the rubber O-ring and
gently assembled it again. I also wound a few turns of self
vulcanizing tape over the edge. 

I then switched the old sender back in and took it for a test
drive. Guess what? It works, at least that short test drive I
took. Had it been before the resoldering the gauge would definitely
have dropped.

Thomas

Real life:      Thomas Törnblom           Email:  Thomas.Tornblom@Nexus.SE
Snail mail:     Combitech Nexus AB        Phone:  +46 18 171814
                Box 857                   Fax:    +46 18 696516
                S - 751 08 Uppsala, Sweden

Unix is simple, but it takes a genius to understand its simplicity. -DMR