Thanks Mark.

I just figured out how to wire up the Jetta coolant temp gauge on my
VanaJetta conversion. (connected to ECT and 12V+)

It may be that giving it 12V gave the high reading. I'm hoping so as
when I hooked it up, after a run up some mountain hills, the needle
went all the way over to the right!

I was planning on taking out the Vanagon gauge from a spare WBX
cluster to compare temps. I'll keep it in there and find the correct
connections to utilize the voltage stabilizer in conjunction with the
gauge to see if I can get a more accurate reading.

IR guns locally are expensive, so I'm hoping the Vanagon gauge will
suffice for now.

Neil.

On Sat, Jul 5, 2008 at 12:33 PM, mdrillock <mdrillock@cox.net> wrote:
> The name is misleading perhaps. What it is really is a 10 volt regulator. It
> takes the varying 11-14 volts of the vehicle wiring and drops it down to a
> steady 10 volts. The vehicle wiring voltage varies depending on alternator
> output, what loads are turned on, etc. The "voltage stabilizer" provides the
> temp gauge and fuel gauge with a constant voltage no matter what else is
> going on so these gauges read the same no matter what else is going on. For
> example, otherwise when the radiator fan came on the gauge needles would
> move to different positions and then back again after the fan stopped.
> Headlights, wipers, etc would have similar effects.
>
> In other words the temp and fuel gauges are calibrated to run on 10 volts,
> not 12 volts, and this component provides a stable 10 volts.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> neil N wrote:
>>
>> Hi all.
>>
>> Does the voltage stabilizer work in conjunction with the engine
>> coolant temp gauge?
>>
>> 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?
>>
>> Like maybe too high?
>>
>> Thanks much!
>>
>> Neil.
>>