Questions and Answers

Buick Regal Temperature Light Stuck Q. Hello Vincent Ciulla, First I'd like to say thanks for having a web site full of information and also having contact info so people like me can get some assistance. I have a 1991 Buick Regal C with a 3.1 liter V-6 and 140,000 kilometers. I am having a couple of problems that I need help with. The main one is the first one.

1. The temperature light is stuck on the max, where it is saying the car is overheating, even when you start it in winter. I was driving it today and every once in a while it would start working. Was thinking perhaps that it was a bad connection or broken wire, but is there a chance that it's a sticky sensor? Not too sure where the sensor is that checks this so can't check the wiring.

2. The brakes squeal with light pressure, but stop with full pressure. Checked the brake pads and seemed okay. Should I file down the edges to remove any possible ridge? Are they low quality pads or what??

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Rob

A. When you say temperature light is stuck on the max, are you saying it's a light or a gauge? A lite is either on or it's off. The gauge can swing anywhere between cold and overheat. Both are controlled by a sending unit somewhere on the engine.

There will be two sending units. One is actually a sensor which tells the computer the temperature. It usually has two wires. The one for the idiot light or gauge can have one or more wires, but they are usually dark green (wires) in color. You may have a wire melted to ground somewhere under the hood or a bad sending unit itself. It could also be in the dash cluster but highly unlikely.

As for the brakes, the noise is probably due to brake dust. A cleaning with brake cleaner will get rid of the noise for now. You can chamfer the ends of the brake material at a 30° angle and coat the back of the brake pads with an anti-squeal compound to help prevent them from squealing again.