On my 1973 914 2 liter, the oil temp gauge started acting crazy ( like going up and down the scale like a nut ) ???? any ideas why it is acting this weird ? flickering !!!

Seems like a ground issue. Did you track down a replacement yet?

Your wire from the sender is brittle and going open.

Thats what I tought , so its not the gauge itself that is kaput ?

Nope. Wire.

yep poor contact on supply wire but most likely the ground,sender failure is pretty rare.
Try to supply the gauge with another temporary ground and see what happens.

Actually, the more likely wire that's failing the Green/Black wire that carries the signal from the sender in the engine sump to the gauge.

If I were testing this issue, I would make a long jumper wire and simply disconnect the sender, and install the jumper wire, then run it out from under the car and in the door and over to the gauge and connect it there (after removing the Grn/Blk). See if that solves the problem, then case the Green/Black wire to find the failure. It's probably rubbed through the insulation somewhere near the motor. There is a connector under the battery (usually in a plastic housing) and I'd inspect the length of wire from that connector to the sump sender first.

Typical of a loose or failing harness connection.

Exactly what happened on my car. And exactly as McMark said. I replaced the wire from the taco plate sender to the connector under the battery. No more shakes. Well, on the temp sender anyway.

You guys are right . I tracked down the black & green wire and found it was rubbing, the protection worned off and was causing a grounding on the chassis. Now fixed. Thanks