At 03:18 PM 7/5/2008, neil N wrote...
>Hi all.

Hi Neil.

>Does the voltage stabilizer work in conjunction with the engine
>coolant temp gauge?

Yes, it provides a constant 10 volts for the gauges.

>i.e. if one took the engine temp gauge out of the cluster, connected
>it straight to the temp sending unit (sensor) and 12+, would this give
>an innacurate reading of engine coolant temp?

Yes.

>Like maybe too high?

Yes.

The gauges are bimetallic - they work by heating a special piece of
metal which bends as it gets warm. There's a heating coil wrapped
around tha piece of metal. 10 volts from the regulator goes to one end
of the heating coil, the other is connected to the sensor (fuel, temp).
The sensors offer a variable resistance. Less resistance causes more
current to flow, making more heat, bending the metal more, making the
gauge read higher.

If you bypass the regulator, then you have 12 volts on one end of the
heater, so more current will flow than is intended, and the gauge will
read higher than it should.