The voltage stabilizer / regulator is a very common and known fault on that car and other older ones of that era / age also when both gauges are affected .There is no need to drain the cooling system to replace the temp sender , you just unscrew old part , preferably when engine cold and quickly fit new one in hole , You will be lucky if you lose less than half a cupful of coolant in doing so . Done dozens of them on that car and other makes , a two min job .
Mk5 cortina fuel gauge and temp gauge not working fix
I’m detailing this post as I have just solved this issue and found there wasn’t much support out there.
I did this on a 1982 mk5 cortina L 1.6 pinto but it should be similar on most mk5 cortinas.
I had a temp gauge showing below 0 and a fuel gauge stuck at full and neither would move.
If a dial is on full it means a shorted circuit and if it reads empty it’s an open circuit. Some people say the fuel sender could be faulty but start simple, if these steps don’t work I’d suggest looking at that.
replace the voltage regulator located behind the two dials readily available new old stock on eBay as photographed. About £20 This Fixed my fuel gauge but not temperature gauge yet but check yours. Fuel level took a short drive to kick in.
for the temperature gauge I did a coolant replacement and at the same time replaced the temperature sender located on the RH side of engine with one wire connecting to it as photographed. Drain coolant before removing old as it will leak out. Remember to clean the inside of the electrical plug with a fibre cleaning pen or rolled up fine sand paper as it sure will be corroded.
Once I replaced these both dials now worked.
I did this on a 1982 mk5 cortina L 1.6 pinto but it should be similar on most mk5 cortinas.
I had a temp gauge showing below 0 and a fuel gauge stuck at full and neither would move.
If a dial is on full it means a shorted circuit and if it reads empty it’s an open circuit. Some people say the fuel sender could be faulty but start simple, if these steps don’t work I’d suggest looking at that.
replace the voltage regulator located behind the two dials readily available new old stock on eBay as photographed. About £20 This Fixed my fuel gauge but not temperature gauge yet but check yours. Fuel level took a short drive to kick in.
for the temperature gauge I did a coolant replacement and at the same time replaced the temperature sender located on the RH side of engine with one wire connecting to it as photographed. Drain coolant before removing old as it will leak out. Remember to clean the inside of the electrical plug with a fibre cleaning pen or rolled up fine sand paper as it sure will be corroded.
Once I replaced these both dials now worked.
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