I’ve been noticing lately when it gets really cold that my temp guage acts up on me. Normally when the engine is fully warm the temp guage goes to the 3rd line and doesnt move from there which is normal but lately with this cold ass weather my car wont fully warm up…if i do city driving then it wont go past the 2 line but if i get on the highway then it will go to the 3rd line and stay there but as soon as i get off the highway and onto city streets the temp goes down as low as the 1st line on the temp guage.
is something wrong here or is anyone else’s car doing this aswell?
that started happening to me last winter with my temp gauge…
and now its so messed up that when i accelerate hard it goes all the way down to cold and back to the position it was at…
i think its safe to assume the gauge is going…
mine rides alittle lower when it is really cold, then once i get on the highway goes normal, and stays normal. Better than over heating, but if you are worried try changing the radiator fluid.
hey, i had the same problem, but i fixed it, well, the gauge being screwed thing. There is a plug that runs up from the ECU into the dash harness, unplug and replug this and check for good connections, that should solve the needle walk.
im having a problem where my engine gets to heat(3rd line) but im not getting all that much heat from the heater(when its really cold), i assume its because the engine is having a hard enough time creating enough heat for itself so there isnt all that much left for heat. But, this problem only seemed to pop up after i replaced my water pump recently.
Your thermostat might be sticking, but the cold weather shouldn’t make a lick of difference. The thermo is set to a specific water temperature. Sounds to me like your thermostat is on it’s way out, especially with the no heat condition.
If your thermostat is stuck open, the coolant will stay cold, so when it passes through the heater core (where your cabin heat comes from) you’re getting next to no heat.
Try this: (if this is old hat and you already know it, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to underestimate your experience)
Take out the thermostat. Marked on it will be the temperature it is supposed to open.
Boil a pot of water, put a thermometer in it (I use the one my gf uses for turkey). Once it’s near the temperature for opening, drop the thermostat into the water. If it opens (you’ll notice) the thermostat is not the culprit.
But this is kind of a redundant check. I usually just replace the thermostat if I doubt it. I mean, you have to get a gasket anyway, and you’ve already got it out … why not swap a new one in? They usually come in different temperature ranges, so go to a higher temp one for the winter time, and it’ll keep your little footies nice and warm.
this could have to do with your water / antifreeze combonation, it should be 50/50 but maybe change the fluid so it is 60/40 70/30 the majority antifreeze.
the change in the temp guage doesnt happen very quickly…i dont think its the guage thats the problem because if it was then it would be jumping up and down as it wishes but in my case the change in temp is very slow…i think its my thermostat…it may be opening up too early and not letting the coolant heat up fully?? i dont know exactly ill change the thermostat and see what happens.
oh and another thing is this only happens when the weather is really cold…if it warms up a little say to around 0 degrees then its good and it doesnt act up but when its really cold out thats when im having this problem.
Your engine will maintain heat by nature of the fact that it’s running. Compression, combustion, hot oil … If it didn’t, the motor would break very quickly. Think about it, if you ran your car without a thermostat for 50 km on the highway (which I have done, old school dumb-ass hot rod idea to keep cars from overheating) think you can go out and put your hand on the head and not get burned?
As well, with your car, the coolant temp sensor might richen up your mix to get more heat, so that might help keep the motor temps up.
All the blower does is blow … it’s a fan. Hot coolant passes through the heater core, and the blower blows the hot air around it out … if the air is cold, the coolant is cold.
If you’re trusting stock gauges, you’re already in trouble. A stock temp gauge is more like a 3 position Off, On, And too hot. Get a water gauge and see what temperatures your engine is actually running at.