temp gauge??

[sleepyalero]

Alright guys... so I was driving home from my girls house. Started the car bout to leave everything was fine.. then about 20 mins after getting off the highway I look down and my temp gauge says my car is cold.. Wtf? Got to the gas station turned off my car got gas... turned her back on gauge still says cold. It barely moves..

When the car is running it stays halfway on The C line. Doesn't go any higher.. any ideas?

Cell phone pic but the car has been running for 30 mins..

http://i921.photobucket.com/albums/ad58/natesalero/2011-03-02_00-10-28_251.jpg

[sleepyalero]

okay just got home about to pull in the garage, i get out and hear the fans running so i pop the hood pull it in, take a look and layed my hand on the UIM, the thing isnt even hot, barely warm..... neither is the manifolds. what would cause this! :Rage:

all the fluids are where they should be too..

[Lucalare]

The fan is going constantly, although I'm not sure what to do to fix it.

[sleepyalero]

Idk how long the fans have been running but they stayed on for about 10 mins when I pulled it in and was looking at it.

Do I need a new thermostat? But from what I read if the thermo doesn't work th engine is supposed to get hot. The gauge in the car moves up about 2 cm to the C mark when running. That's as far as it goes. Yet my buddy said if it is staying open its not reading to let the car heat up or show its heated up. But does still blow heat through the vents...

Do I need a new radiator? From what I also read if corrosion is blocking in the radiator, then I need a new one or some type of fluid That will clean it?

Thanks for the help guys.

[Lucalare]

If anything was restricting the flow of coolant your engine would get too hot, not stay cool. If your intake mani is staying cool I'd say you're fans are running overdrive for some reason. Maybe a bad relay?

[sleepyalero]

Idk about a relay. Its weird that the car stays cold on the gauge but the fans run?

I mean it could be a relay but im not sure..

[Lucalare]

Well if your relay is faulty it could cause the fans to run whenever the ignition is on, instead of just when the engine is hot. In any case it will take like 10 seconds to check relays.

[Ttop191]

thermostat could be stuck open too...i don't think the fans would keep it that cool

[sleepyalero]

Yeah im gonna check tomorrow. If I start my car and re fans turn on immediately then its a bad relay?

[Ttop191]

yeah could even check before you start the car, just turn the key to the on position

[Lucalare]

It's a good possibility. The other thing I can think of is if the coolant temp sensor is sending the wrong temp that would do it too, but much easier to check a relay than that sensor.

[sleepyalero]

thermostat could be stuck open too...i don't think the fans would keep it that cool

Thanks ttop :D yeah that's what im thinking atm too. Ill check relays tomorrow. And possibly do a new thermostat if I got time. But wont be driving the car until its fixed.

Any other ideas let me know!!

[Lucalare]

thermostat could be stuck open too...i don't think the fans would keep it that cool

I was thinking that maybe the two together are doing it, cause if the gauge is just above the C (approx 120 degrees or so I'd guess) the fans definitely should not be running, I think they kick on at 215 or something like that.

[sleepyalero]

Yeah the car would be hot if they were on unless a messed up thermo makes it think its hot

[sleepyalero]

just started the car after its been sitting all night, right when i started the fans kicked on.

could it be temp gauge sensor?

plan on getting parts and fixing this asap today, all help is appreciated!!! just dont want to buy the wrong things. ;)

[Lucalare]

Check relays first! It would suck to change out that sensor just to find out that's not the problem.

[sleepyalero]

Will do. When I check the relay what am I looking for?I know on a fuse you look for The broken rod inside but the relays in the fusebox are not seethrough so idk what im lookin for.

[Lucalare]

Try a relay from something else that you know works in the spots for the fan relays, if putting one of those in makes the fans work properly, you know you have a bad relay. Technically you're supposed to use a multimeter but this method is easier and makes a whole lot more sense to me.

[Cliff8928]

just started the car after its been sitting all night, right when i started the fans kicked on.

could it be temp gauge sensor?

plan on getting parts and fixing this asap today, all help is appreciated!!! just dont want to buy the wrong things. ;)

If the PCM reads a value that is out of range for the temp sensor, then the fans will come on. Your Check Engine light would also be on.

[sleepyalero]

No check engine light so far.

Will check relays later today.

[sleepyalero]

Leaving Napa. Buddy works There says I have two problems. 1 is the temp gauge sensor probably bad. And the fans staying on is another problem. Still gotta check relays.

Update!!--- just put new thermostat and coolant temp sensor in. Was a little difficult. But got it done. Car is still in pieces. Putting it bak together tomorrow to see if its fixed.

[sleepyalero]

All fixed thanks for the help guys now I don't know what the problem is exactly but I replaced the coolant temp sensor and the thermostat so it was one of those causing the problem..

Figured I would replace both while I was in there. But all fixed :) just needs coolant.

Thanks again everyone.

[mrmike]

I have the exact same problem currently. I replaced the sensor and the wiring but it still doesn't work. Same symptoms, no temp gauge, fans running and no service engine light. Would a new thermostat make a difference?

[Redog]

Yeah it could.

The temp sensor is need the thermo and if the thermo is stuck closed, no flow to the sensor.

Try bleeding the system first, might have an air pocket, but the gauge would be fluxing all over the place. Try it though, it's free :D

[sleepyalero]

Thanks redog! But got the problem fixed about a week and a half ago haha :) just changethe temp sensor and thermo all better :D

[mrmike]

I bled the system before and it worked for about 30 min. I noticed that the wiring for the temp sensor was squished between the alternator and the power steering hose, so I'm checking that out now. I will change the thermo but I was going to wait until I did some other engine stuff later on in the spring.

[mrmike]

Actually I'm not sure how to correctly bleed the system, I've never drained my coolant before this happened. Is there a general write up somewhere on how to do it?

[zzyzzx]

Actually I'm not sure how to correctly bleed the system, I've never drained my coolant before this happened. Is there a general write up somewhere on how to do it?

on the 3400 engine there is a bleeder valve that you unscrew a little until you stop seeing air come out. Having said that, when I did my LIM gasket no air came out (I.E. - bleeding was unnecessary for some reason).

[mrmike]

Ok thats what I had done, maybe I should leave it open a little longer though.

[a.graham52]

how did you make out? i dont know where you live so ill ask anyways... is your a/c on? that will cause the fans to run all the time too. however that shouldnt cause your coolant temp to be low. hows your heat when your engine "should" be hot? is it really hot or can you drive down the road comfortably with the heat full blast? hows your rad. hoses? are they "hot"?

[a.graham52]

ignore my last post, the page didnt fully load and didnt see that problem was fixed.

[Mike The Canadian]

I've had this problem before too.
I just plug in a code reader, find a pending code and clear it. Everything restores to normal instantaneously.

I find if I drive it long enough like this I get a CEL as well (checked it, it was for the CTS). I however figure there's no point in screwing around because clearing the code usually alleviates my problem. Furthermore it seems to be a winter only thing for me (and very inconsistent)

[a.graham52]

I've had this problem before too.
I just plug in a code reader, find a pending code and clear it. Everything restores to normal instantaneously.

I find if I drive it long enough like this I get a CEL as well (checked it, it was for the CTS). I however figure there's no point in screwing around because clearing the code usually alleviates my problem. Furthermore it seems to be a winter only thing for me (and very inconsistent)

whats ur code?

[mrmike]

Btw I changed my thermostat and it fixed the problem.