temp guage is a lier

It's always good practice to be safe. I was cleaning up the car stereo mess in my 308 when I pulled one wire from the splice that was made the car lurched forward! Who would have thought

 

I didn't remove the battery connection when I cleaned my connections but it wouldn't hurt to be safe.

 

There is a quick disconnect under the front bonnet drivers side. You'll see it towards the front fender on the drivers side. I believe the connectors are red, and all you have to do in pull them apart. No need to disconnect a battery terminal.

 

And for other cars/situations remove the negative first.

 

Always remove negative first on a negative ground car. When you are removing negative and you bump the wrench against something metal - nothing happens. When you remove positive first and you bump the wrench against something metal the battery will try to weld the wrench to the car. If it is even a little bit successful (and it certainly could be!) the wrench will get so hot so fast there is no chance you could pull it off, but even then you'll get a cool branding of "Craftsman" burned backwards across your palm. Before you have a chance to look to see just how cool that will be to show the guys at the bar the shorted super-hot battery will explode, spraying you and your car with acid. And really your day will go down hill from there.

It makes the disconnect the Ferrari started using look like a very nice feature.

I try to disconnect the battery before doing electrical stuff, but in all honesty I also do stuff and pop fuses. And then I disconnect the battery like I should have.

 

Always remove the neg (-) side first it's more safer.

that's why the quick disconnect cable is always on the Neg. side.

 

Every single gauge in a 308 lies a little --- always take separate, independent measurements when you need to know parameters precisely on an older Ferrari...

 

Something tells me this detailed description has some first-person-experience

 

Mike,

I removed mine without removing the steering wheel, although it would make it easier with it off. I used a magnetic screwdriver to remove the dashpod screws and dental floss and my fingernails to remove the warning lights. I also laid a towel down on the top of the steering column/leather portion of lower dashpod. I was lucky and did not lose any screws but then again I played a lot of games of "operation" when I was a kid.

Dan

 

I've gotten to the hot wrench stage. Two degrees of separation from the perpatrator of the whole show. Like gasoline, very few people appreciate the power stored in a car battery.

 

Be sure and clean up the connectors at each end, gauge and sender. Probably would not hurt to clean the relevant connectors to the fuse box and fuse too.

 

And clean the ground

 

BTW...I have read here that there is a ground...if there is it didn't jump out at me so I just made sure all of the connections were nice and clean...now my temp is "normal". Problem solved. Now I will have to replace my oil pressure sending unit, the gauge may be bad but cleaning didn't solve my low, bouncy readings.

I did not remove the steering wheel, mainly due to seized allen nuts on the wheel and no ring nut tool. I is a bit of a squeez but it did come out. Clean your gauge rings and replace any questionable bulbs while your in there.

 

I admit I didn't read the whole thread, just the 1st post, but wait a minute. Let me understand this. You actually expect a +20 year old Italian guage to be anywhere close to accurate?
BAWAHAHAHA oh stop it man! you're killing me!.

ALWAYS tap on the gauge when in doubt.

Want to try an interesting experiment?
Fire up your car, warm it up, note the temp on the gauge, then check it with a laser.
Shut it off, pull the gauge (easier said than done), clean the contacts on the gauge, clean the contacts on the sender, reinstall, fire it up, check the gage, check the laser.
At least a 10% difference, right?

The #1 rule on any old sports car is NEVER trust the gauges. Use them as a guide. Double check the accuracy via other means and then remember the varience. (spelled that wrong) Think about it, if the 30 year old fuel gauge read a quarter of a tank would you keep driving? Every guy here who has owned more then 2 or 3 vintage cars is sitting at his computer and yelling "no way". Its because we've all run out of fuel with the gauge reading 1/4 tank.

Go clean your contacts, you'll be fine.
Nice car by the way.