Sierra :: Temperature Gauge Running Low / Reading Cold
Feb 14, 2016
Tempature gauge on my 2001 sierra (4.8) has been running low for awhile. The highest it will reach is round 160. It's currently running rough/rich and bad mpg. I replaced the ECT sensor but didn't work. I'm not sure if there are two ECT sensors on this model. I don't think it's the cluster. Is there a second sensor I'm overlooking?
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I have a 93 accord ex sedan, 4 cylinder, automatic that I bought in August. I live in South Dakota & it's starting to get cold here. When I first bought the car the temp gauge was working fine in that it would move to the middle of hot/cold range. Recently, I've noticed the interior doesn't get warm for awhile, even after driving 20 miles. It blows warm air but it seems like it should be warmer. I've also noticed the temperature gauge barely moves, if it does at all. Most of the time it doesn't move or just stays on cold. I did some research on here & thought I would try to change the thermostat, upper & lower hose and the antifreeze. I'm hoping this will heat up the interior better because it's starting to get cold here & fix the temp gauge.
Previously, I had a 91 accord & that would warm up great, even when it was bitterly cold here. What would cause the temp gauge to do this? I'm even thinking about changing the transmission control module because I read on here that could cause the gauges to have wrong readings. The speedo & rpm gauges also seem to have wrong readings, especially in the mornings or when I first drive it. I used my gps & found the speedo to be off by as much as 10 mph. The other item I've noticed is that I only get around 23-25 mpg highway & on my other accord I was averaging 28-30 mpg highway. Not sure if this is related or not but thought the more info the better.
I have done all the basic maintenance-oil & filter, plugs & wires, valve cover gasket, air filter, tranny fluid but have never done anything with the heating/cooling system.
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My girlfriend has a 2004 Toyota Camry SE, 2.4, 4 cly, with 198k miles. All maintenance has been done per book guidance since she has owned the car. The other day the car began running really rough on her way home. as soon as she put it into park and lowered rpm the car stalled out. temperature gauge did not read hot, but noticed white steam comes from hood when i seen she pulled up, Opened hood let cool down and coolant looked nasty as heck. So I did coolant flush and replaced the thermostat as per advised from parts store. Did not make a difference because during test drive, half mile down the road, car temperature gauge was reading hot. Shut the car down waited 10 to 15 minutes and drove back home.
Altogether drove roughly 10 miles max in hot condition is stop and cool down and go again mode. Also note, this is the first time using a forum of this sort. Along with, I'm not a mechanic as some are, but I know my way around a tool box no problems. I'm on the verge of just ordering new water pump, belts, fans, fan relays switches, radiator and all since I'm going to be in there to fix it anyways.
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I have a 2003 Passat and the engine temperature gauge will read 190 normally and then suddenly drop to almost zero, stay there for a while then head back up.
I purchased a temp sensor to replace the old but for the life of me I can seem to locate it. I know it's in the back or rear of the engine somewhere.
BTW, the car has the 1.8 engine.
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I have 2002 Camry 2.4L (2AZ-FE Engine) Japan built. Lately, I noted the temperature gauge stay at the 4th mark when engine fully warm up (first mark is at bottom and slightly longer than the next few marks), is this normal? Which mark it is at when fully warm up.
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1991 Ranger STX, 4.0. Had a leak from the rubber seal on the thermostat. Changed the thermostat (stat 195) and seal. Now my temperature gauge is not showing a constant reading, goes to half way and when the thermo opens the gauge falls down to a quarter. The gauge is cycling this way every time the thermo opens.
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I have an 02 f350 7.3 power stroke...Yesterday I noticed the outside temp was reading wrong,it was jumping from 67 to 86 to 92 back to 67..Temp was prob around 90 with high humidity and my a/c was on..So I got to where I was going and when I restarted my truck to go home the fuel gauge dropped to empty(I just fueled the day before) and fuel light came on and outside temp still wrong on the overhead digital display...Are these two things related???
Stopped the truck restarted it and fuel reads correctly again....Went out today and fuel light back on and on empty...Outside temp wrong again,a/c is on .....I disconnected the batteries when I got home to "reset the system"if there is such thing, fuel gauge working but outside temp wrong..?? Where is the outside temp sensor ?could condensation be running onto the sensor and throwing off my temp gauge? Just strange that both these things happened at the same time......I don't think its a fuse or they wouldn't work at all. I should mention all the other gauges work correctly...
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I have a 2001 Excursion Limited V10. 146000 miles 2 wheel drive. I have had it about a year and this is my first winter to really have experience with her.
When the outside temperature is very cold and the engine is cold from sitting all night, at start up, the oil pressure gauge reads nothing and the oil pressure/temp idiot light is on. Only does this during the first very cold start up or after sitting and engine getting very cold again.
I can drive just a short distance (2 blocks) and both gauge and light go to normal and stay there for the rest of my drive. I am using a quality 5/20 oil and filter and the level is good. Warmer days it has never happened. Truck runs fine, smooth idle, no "limp mode". She has not had any recent work done. All the other dash gauges read fine.
There is something about really cold temperatures that have to be causing the issue , I think. ??
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We have been having issues with my son's 97 Sierra running rough when it is cold/damp. It feels like the engine is missing.
Today, which is warm and dry, it started running really bad and it was all he could do to limp it home. It seemed like it wanted to idle fine but when he tried to rev it up the tach would start jumping and it seemed like it was missing.
Could this be a bad cap/rotor? The engine has 200,000 miles and we've never changed the cap/rotor. I changed the plugs/wires probably 100,000 miles ago.
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I drive a 2002 Honda Civic EX with about 105,000 glorious miles on it. I decided to hit the road and made a weekend road trip to pick up a stranded family member. I live in Ohio and drove Lou Dobbs, my car, to Florida. It was about 950 miles one way. All was well until I got to Florida. I hit my first traffic jam and was sitting with the windows down enjoying the Florida air. Suddenly, the temperature gauge started to climb! It got pretty close to the red but traffic began to flow at that point. As soon as I reached 40-50MPH the temp began to fall again. I picked up my cargo and headed back. Each time I would hit traffic or a red light the temp would climb without hesitation. This is without the A/C running. After I got back to Ohio, i asked a friend who knows about cars. Over the phone, he had me remove the radiator cap and reservoir cap to take a look at the fluid levels. After this though, the car has never overheated! I don't understand. Can air get into the system and I let it out by removing the caps? I can sit in rush hour traffic for a half an hour with the AC running and the needle stays right in the middle. Should I still take it in to be looked at?
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Have a 2001 Subaru Legacy GT, 5 speed manual, 194,000 miles.
A few months ago, I started noticing that my cooling fans are running more often. Even when it is cold out and the temperature gauge was at normal temperature. The fans would turn on, and just keep running. Obviously, they would turn off when I shut the car off, but if the car is on, they will stay on. However, I found a trick to get them to turn off. If I am in neutral, and I race the engine up to around 3000 RPM's or so for about 10 seconds, and let it come back down to idle speed, the fans are now off. Works almost every time, not just a coincidence.
I know my car, and this has never done this before. I know it is not normal. I have replaced the following- thermostat, coolant temperature sensor, flushed the system, changed the fan relays, and most recently, I put a brand new Subaru radiator in. All of this, and the issue is still there. I am beginning to wonder if it is the water pump. Coolant not circulating fast enough, so the fans come on to cool down, but when I race the engine, the water pump works harder circulating coolant faster? Also recently, the temp gauge starts to climb going up long steep grades. If I pull over and race the engine, the temp gauge drops almost immediately back to normal. The pump is not leaking or making any noise, so I'm not sure if it could go bad any other way.
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I have noticed that my temperature gauge is indicating that usually my truck is running very cool. It seems that it is also somewhat erratic. At times it indicates what I would expect a reading in the middle of the gauge. Other times after running a while it will drop to the lower end (cool) of the gauge and stay there.
I am guessing that the thermostat is sticking open. Is there a way to test the sensors to see if they maybe bad? I have a 99 ranger with a 4cyl. It looks like I have two sensors. If one is bad, how can I determine which it is?
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I have a 1997 Ford Explorer with 5.0, I have replaced the thermostat and the radiator cap, I drive the truck to work in the mornings (12miles) and it is fine. We live on a mountain and on the way home after getting to the top of the mountain the temperature gauge goes past middle and nears the red but does not overheat completely. Once home I open the hood and the overflow is steaming or sometimes boiling, and I have checked thermostat again to make sure and it is operating normal, I have been told fan clutch, water pump, and I don't want to just throw money at guesses.
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I've owned this Toyota Camry 2004 LE for two years now and this issue started couple of weeks ago , I the tempreture gague is always at cold , mean less than 25% . where it used to be always in the middle and at the 50% right in the middle . heat still works , have not tried AC yet , it is still in the 20-30s here in Minnesota . I am suspecting maybe a thermostat or some other heating cooling sensor somewhere .
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I just bought a 1997 Toyota Tercel 5-speed stick, with 175,000 miles, and the temperature gauge moves from its lowest possible position to its highest possible position when the key is turned on, although the engine does not overheat, and no coolant is leaking or being burned. I replaced the coolant temperature sensor, but the actions of the gauge were not affected. I don't know if it is somehow related, but the heater blows cold, regardless the setting of the temperature dial on the dash. What I might try next?
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I have a 2007 f150 with the 5.4 in it and today I was driving it and my tempreture gauge randomly shot to cold and check engine light came on. Also can't even find the dam radiator cap due to too much plastic!!!
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I have a 2001 ford ranger xlt 2.3L and the temperature gauge has been staying a cold. And my heat doesnt heat well. I'm guessing I need to replace the thermostat. Before I do that could it be anything else?
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A friend of mine has had this 2000 Sierra since new. It has just over 100K and never had any cooling issues before. Last week when it was about 10 below zero she drove it home and it overheated and pumped a couple quarts of antifreeze overboard.
She refilled it the next day and it was fine but got it looked at by a local independent mechanic. I had told her that it was likely a sticky thermostat and it ought to be changed out anyways due to its age. The mechanic thought I was wrong and that she had driven it off to quickly in the super cold weather.
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I am trouble shooting my temp gauge. I have a 1997 f350. I brought the truck a year ago and i have still not fix this problem. I install a new temp gauge and nothing changed. When ever the truck is running it reads cold and doesn't budge. Ive read that the gauge can be broken its self but during a few hot times over the summer. The gauge began to rise slower, never reaching normal temperature. A few times i messed with the heat and the gauge would shoot over the normal temp. The truck seems to run at a good temp sometimes hot though. The tube on top of the radiator is hotter than the bottom also.
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So, this may sound strange but from the get-go of owning my Prius I have always sort of doubted the accuracy of the outside temperature reading. I am not totally worried about that part, as I don't really care about the reading, but I would love to understand something. When the thermometer reads the temperature as "37 degrees" it displays this bar that states it as such. The same bar where it notifies you if you change the temperature or volume via the steering wheel. So, I guess my question is , is there something specific about that number or is it just a quirk of my individual Prius? Also, it is worth noting that no other temperature causes it to display this message, only 37 degrees.
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The outside temperature is reported inaccurately by your C? I now automatically deduct 5 degrees from whatever my C tries to tell me is the temp. I may mention this at my 5,000 visit to the dealer because I'm wondering if the sensor is placed too closely to something creating warmth. But....it's definitely reading too high.
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