2005 Tacoma 4.0 temperature gauge not reading

I need some help my tempature gauge on instrument cluster is all the way down below the cold line I’ve replaced the ECT sensor on the back side under intake In hopes that would fix it but no look after a quick google search it says there is another sensor that is just for the Gauge but I can’t find any info on it. I’ve also thought maybe the instrument cluster is bad and need to take it to get repaired but I wanted to see if anyone has had this issue before or can give me some tips before I remove it thank you.

 

2nd gens have a single Engine Coolant Temp Sensor, the ECM reads it and on 05 it sends a PWM signal to the cluster whose duty cycle varies with coolant temp.

First thing I'd want to do is put a scan tool on it and look at data to see what temp the ECM is reading.

 

That may actually be a cluster issue, the temp gauge is far below it's normal minimum position.

 

Hey thanks for the reply so I actually already hooked up my scanner to it with live data and it’s reading normal around 190ish I kinda figured okay maybe cluster doesn’t work but I’ve reached out to someone who repairs cluster and they told me it probably wasn’t the issue so now I’m confused because when I googled about the sensor it said one controls the gauge and on goes to the ecm

 

Nope all 2nd gens have a single sensor, some 1st gens had a separate sensor for the cluster.
If you had an oscilloscope you could check the temp signal from the ECM but being the gauge is out of it's normal range I'd suspect the cluster.

Cluster issues are relatively common on early 2nd gens, most common issue is it failing to output a vehicle speed signal resulting in a P0500 code in the ECM but gauge issues also happen.

 

Get another cluster expert, the one you spoke to isn't.