'95 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme getting really hot but not overheating HELP!

[Dastardly]

Originally Posted by Ryanolds95

Sense your gauge is different can you tell us what it is out of ?

It's a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL.

[Ryanolds95]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

It's a 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme SL.

On your 94 gauge there is a position GM marked for some purpose (arrow) , does your owener manual say what this for?

[Dastardly]

Originally Posted by Ryanolds95

On your 94 gauge there is a position GM marked for some purpose (arrow) , does your owener manual say what this for?

Nope, but im guessing where the needle is pointing to at in the picture is either 200 or 205.

[Ryanolds95]

Originally Posted by Dastardly

Nope, but im guessing where the needle is pointing to at in the picture is either 200 or 205.

My best guess is that it means 200 degrees, but why did they put emphasis at that location. My hope's were that a owners manual would tell us that this was "operating temp", the t-stat opens at 195 degrees. Anyone else got a 94 Cutlass Supreme that can check out the gauge section?

Here is a picture of a 95 Olds Cutlass Cieria, we have another 95 Olds that a gauge just like this one but no numbers, just H and C.

[xeroinfinity]

Originally Posted by 95CutlassSupremeSL

Evening or whatever,

I changed out the temprature sensor and temprature sender, including the relay's for the fans just in case. Sadly, none of those changes made any difference, just worse. Now it runs in the red, so I started freaking out, I pulled the car over, opened the hood, no steam nothing, not a rush of warm air when I opened the hood, nothing. I was thankful, but I got curious, I put my hand lightly on top of the head, it was barely warm. Just to be precautious I let the car cool down, luckily I was close to base, so it didnt take long to get back to work. I drove my car back to my shop (I'm a generator mechanic, new to it) I found a temprature gauge, one of those that you stick in a turkey or something, it was rated at 300 degrees. I stuck it in the side of radiator fins (now I know I won't get the best reading) and turned the car on, I let it run until the needle on the dash got up the red, I checked the temprature gauge, guess what, 200!!! I was shocked, if it was overheating or as hot as the guage in my dash said then it would be passed 250, right? I took it to a radiator shop, the radiator dude looked it over for about 15-20 mintues, he told that the car seems to be running perfectly normal, I asked him 3 or 4 times are you sure. He was sure, I had driven it for 45 minutes just to get it to this place, so if it definitely didnt overheat, then? He suggested it may be something electricl from the ECM or ECU to the dash. What do you guys think? Any suggestions? I will try bleeding it tommorow if its not to cold. I'll let you know what happens, Thanks

As I stated before, it sounds like your Cutlass is operating with in normal perameters.
If you gauge on the instrument cluster (IC) is still screwy reading higher, then I'd suspect your IC could be going south.
A LOT of N bodies, 94-96, 97, usualy end up having to replace the IC because of bad connectuons on the circuit board of the IC.

I have a 95 Cutlass Supreme , and the gauge is nothing like the one's pictured.
Just has low - hot in a verticle type gauge, good thing it's getting sold sooon!

[Dastardly]

Yep, the battery gauge on my 94 cutlass supreme is very screwy. So screwy I replaced a perfectly working alternator, and battery! It always shows a high volatage. I'm thinking of replacing it, or just seeing if anything it lose.

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

My gauge shows that in the red is 262 degrees, and in the middle its 200 according to the manual. How would I find out if its the IC? Once I get this car paid off, I think I'm going to get rid of it too. Just too many problems. I'm going to get a diagnostic done soon and hopefully they will find out if the problem is electrical, most likely it is, because I replaced nearly all the mechanical parts.

[Ryanolds95]

Originally Posted by 95CutlassSupremeSL

My gauge shows that in the red is 262 degrees, and in the middle its 200 according to the manual. How would I find out if its the IC? Once I get this car paid off, I think I'm going to get rid of it too. Just too many problems. I'm going to get a diagnostic done soon and hopefully they will find out if the problem is electrical, most likely it is, because I replaced nearly all the mechanical parts.

Try not to get discuraged ! A man made your car, a man can fix it!

Your best tool will be correct information. No guess work. I dont need to tell you this. Maybe your was designed for you not to fix it easly.

You have to test everything to keep from wasting your time and money, the bonus of doing things this way is that from now on you will know it, and know what to do.

I would this:
test the coolant temp sensor resentance, warm,med-warm, and cold, this can be done with a Ohm meter, about 4 dollars from harbor freight.

now test the plug for that same sensor, (stw meter to DC volts) 1 of the 2 pins inside the plug should be 0.5 volts, the other pin is the ground ( stw the meter to OHMs) ground 1 of the probs to the eng or body and the other on the pin, it should be low reading

Your computer depends on these reading.

here is some figures to go by.
To test the coolant sensor, unplug the wire connector and test the resistance across the two terminals of the SENSOR with an ohm meter.

The sensor screws into the intake manifold, on the front passenger side, by the thermostat housing.

Coolant sensor approximate resistance specifications:
177 ohms @ 212 deg. F. or 100 deg. C.
241 ohms @ 194 deg. F. or 90 deg. C.
332 ohms @ 176 deg. F. or 80 deg. C.
467 ohms @ 158 deg. F. or 70 deg. C.
667 ohms @ 140 deg. F. or 60 deg. C.
973 ohms @ 122 deg. F. or 50 deg. C.
1188 ohms @ 113 deg. F. or45 deg. C.
1459 ohms @ 104 deg. F. or 40 deg. C.
1802 ohms @ 95 deg. F. or 35 deg. C.
2238 ohms @ 86 deg. F. or 30 deg. C.
2796 ohms @ 77 deg. F. or 25 deg. C.
3520 ohms @ 68 deg. F. or 20 deg. C.
4450 ohms @ 59 deg. F. or 15 deg. C.
5670 ohms @ 50 deg. F. or 10 deg. C.
7280 ohms @ 41 deg. F. or 5 deg. C.
9420 ohms @ 32 deg. F. or 0 deg. C.
12300 ohms @ 23 deg. F. or -5 deg. C.
16180 ohms @ 14 deg. F. or -10 deg. C.
21450 ohms @ 5 deg. F. or -15 deg. C.
28680 ohms @ -4 deg. F. or -20 deg. C.
52700 ohms @ -22 deg. F. or -30 deg. C.
100700 ohms @ -40 deg. F. or - 40 deg. C.

all-data says 44 ohms at 280F (138C)
1365 ohms at 100F (37C)
fans start 215 to 230 degrees.
t-stat begins to open at 195 degrees

[95CutlassSupremeSL]

Thanks man, I guess it is better that I learn this stuff now at a young age of 20, instead of later. I only had to get this car beacuse my other car caught fire in a Taco Bell drive-thru. Yes, this car was passed down to me for 4,000 dollars, I didn't really have choose, when in the military, you need transportation. Anyhow maybe God wanted me to have this car, who knows. Its a good thing that I have an ohmmeter at work, I work on generators which attributes to electrical equipment. Hopefully this will work and thanks again

[Ryanolds95]

Whats wrong with this picture? Food for thought!