**UPDATE**************************
I got down and dirty with this thing trying to disover how asll this ties in EXACTLY. ok, the coolant sensor has 2 wires running to it. 1 ground from a bunch of grounds out of the ecu(for sensors) and one 0-5v signal wire that tellsthe ecu the temp.

then, the ecu sends a "duty cycle" signal out to the gauge cluster that displays the damn coolant temp.

after examining all these aspects, my signal into the aem is correct for the temp it displays. so thats good, at least 2 things are working. but, i dont know how or what the duty cycle signal is to the cluster and how to check it.

this has nothing to do with the aem or the sensor, its something after the aem. i have confirmed this because: 1 it happened before i installed the aem. and 2 the aem and sensor are working perfectly in sync with eachother.

so that leaves me with a bad ground to the cluster, or just a f-ed cluster.
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so, i posted up a while back about my temp gauge showing like 8 bars constant, then like 9(225') off and on for like 3 seconds and sometimes it will hit 10(233') and 11(235')... then drop to 9.... then sit at 8 again. meaning the car was around 235 degrees... riiiiiiiight.

well i got tired of playing the guessing game and hooked up the laptop and loaded the aem up and went driving. well the highest the aem ever read with a/c on and cruising at like 65 was 95(203). and sitting it was around 94(201) and easy driving around 93 to 95(199.4-203) never any higher.

so i was like, well the ECT gauge is getting its reading from a different sensor that is on its way out or something because while the bars were moving all around, the aem was steady around 94 most of the time. at one time, the dash gauge went up to 9 bars, and the temp on the aem had actually dropped to 93 from 94... go figure.

but here is the catch: the aem and the dash gauge read off the exact same sensor......????????

the aem reads steady all the way from startup, but the dash gauge is jacked.. even though they share the same sensor..

i think my dash gauge is F-ed. and there is no way to fix it without getting a new cluster. its hard to just ignore because when your gauge is over the halfway mark for a few seconds, it gets your attention and makes you paranoid. pisses me off. and now that i know its screwy, im even more pissed that i cant really fix it.

any suggestions are much obliged.
:-)

EDIT: im on the AEM series 2. forgot to mention that.

 

The guage gets its info from the EMS, what you are seeing is normal for EMS you just have to reset your brain.


My computer is messing up, I was going to add that you need one of these.
http://www.modifry.com/products/ect/ap2.htm

 

lol^

but why would the gauge go up a bar when the coolant actually went down?

and it did this to me when i was stock ecu on my way to the tuner as well. so its not the ecu.

 

Are you using a series 2 EMS?

If not, you've got a Modifry ECT driver that is running the gauge. 1012 and 1052 AEM's don't output to the stock cluster.

 

yes, forgot to add that i am on the series 2.

 

let me also add this. before i headed to my tuner, i attempted to hookup the aem, i just plugged it in and turned the key to the access stage and the fans came on and gauges lit up. but i noticed when i turned the car off while on stock ecu a sec ago, the bars were at 8. then i let it sit for a sec in the shade and plug in the aem and just power on the accessory and the gauge was at like 10 bars. then i unplugged it and put the oem ecu back on and the gauge was now sitting at 10. i had never seen it get to that temp ever before that day. i think the aem may have F-ed the dash gauge all up. cause i noticed all this shit whether on oem ecu or not ever since that afternoon.

i just wanted to make sure the ecu was operational before i drove all the way to the tuner.

anyway, after that i put the stock ecu back on and headed to my tuner a week or so later. and the gauge started acting up then. while i was on the stock ecu.

put the aem in for good, still the same crap. aem reads a steady range of about 2-3' C, but the oem cluster gauge plays hop-scotch on my dash....

 

I'd be more suspect of the settings in the EMS than the cluster. The stock gauge works on a very narrow voltage range.

Check Modifry's site. He explains how the stock gauge works with the ECT driver instructions.

 

^the series 2 takes care of that supposedly. and that still wouldnt explain why it was happening on stock ecu.

 

Supposedly doesn't sound very confident that it actually works. Did you post on the AEM forum?

 

^yezzzir. it says the aem series 2 works with oem ECT gauge.

here is another question:
when i open the aem, and get into the setup wizards, under coolant temp sensor it has the list and HONDA is highlited in bold print and it says matched next to it. then at the bottom it says "double click to apply". and when i double click it, the matched part goes away, and all my temp calibrations stay the same on the ecu screen.

dos this mean it calibrated for an output for the gauge? cause there are all sorts of calibrations listed as matched but not applied. and if they werent working, the car wouldnt even run.

i hope someone on the aem forum helps me out cuz this is confusing.