AE82 Electrical Question - Fuel & Temp

[mlaser]

Hey All

After having my ke25 written off by an old lady i picked up a AE82 Sedan for 1000 bucks and have found that it has 2 annoying electrical faults that i want to fix and need to know if i can fix the current setup or need to replace them.

1) Fuel Gauge - Basically the fuel gauge will go straight to full when car is filled up with fuel and then after a doing some K's say 100 or so it will go down to 3/4 full and from there it won't move at all and will occasionally have the fuel light come on despite only using around 1/2 a tank (i go by k's to work out when it needs fuel). So anyone got any idea what the problem may be?

2) Temp Gauge - Basically all the temp gauge does is once the car is turned on it goes straight past red to maximum deflection. Once again anyone go any idea what the problem may be and would it be best just to replace the temp gauge with an aftermarket one. I'm more concerned with the temp gauge as it's an old car and i'd prefer to know when/if the engine is gonna blow

Cheers for any help

Mark

[Steve-AE86]

try changing the cluster?

ae82's did have issues with these..

[slide86]

if it still does it after the cluster is changed then the next step i would be going for is the senders themselves.
- replace the sender in the tank for the fuel
- replace the coolant temp sensor for the gauge, it sounds like the sender is faulty here as the needle goes straight to the top. possibly indicating that the sender has earthed out inside.

[naughty nurse]

Ok i have an AE82 seca and I will tell you what both problems are.....I bet the thermo fan isnt coming on when it should......mine was doing this when i bought it and the gauge zings straight past the normal mark to almost boiling.....basically there is too much heat in the engine bay. there is a small clearish yellow sender next to the fan just over near the gear box that plugs into the engine ( sorry i cant think of what its technically called ) but i think thats what it is, basically disconnect it and the fans will stay on all the time when the engine is running.....to buy one from toyota costs a fortune so just disconnect the sender its a .02 of a second job and the temp gauge will stay where it is supposed to.

Make sure your radiator cap is replaced with a new one and you get new coolant in your radiator.

As for the feul gauge issue, yeah its a common problem but basically valving your car through the hills or even giving it stick off the line will make the feul light come on. Relaxe there is no prob with your tank or the sender......if you fill your tank you should get in excess of 500 ks from a tank......just reset your trip meter or if it bothers you that much open the gauge cluster and disconnect the wire to the fuel gauge light, the needle will still work. I bet the gauge resets after you pull over for a few minutes to where it sould roughly sit.

All in all these arent really problems.....unless your engine blows......if its a 4AC thats cool, the engine can be replaced for prescious little cash and second if its twin cam power you want, let me know I have a complete set up in my garage which im looking to off load for 500$$......

See all problems can be solved.....as for the light coming on when you hit the loud pedal harder than a copper did Rodney King, call it a character trait of the car.....a story to tell your grand kids......If you need any other advice let me know.