About halfway down this page, I have a thread about my little stuttering problem. Well, it's getting worse. And with it, my temp gauge is acting funny. Here's what happens...

* While driving on the highway at 80 with AC on in 111* weather, temp needle sits at normal, half-way.

* Once on surface streets, temp has gone as high as almost touching the little "oh shit!" mark. Leaving AC on, picking up the pace, and holding the shifts longer (ie; rolling thrid instead of upshifting to keep RPM up), results in temp coming back to normal.

* Driving with heater on full blast, no AC (ie; no compressor & no secondary fan), temp stays put at normal. (Yes, I drove around Scottsdale, AZ in 111* heat with the heater running full blast. I am a tired man this evening for sure.)

My needle has always stayed right in the middle. Before the rebuild, I sat often for more than 15 minutes in the sun at 115*+ with the AC blaring parked with a retaining wall in front of me and the needle never faltered. After the rebuild, same result. She just started to wander in the last couple weeks, particularly today.

I have a decent, near 50/50 mix + water wetter going on with < 3000mi on it. Levels are good. Fluid is clean and has no oil. I get no more smoke at any time (knock on wood), but I do have this stutter like a misfire at idle. It might be misfiring in the lower RPMs while gradually increasing speed, but I'm not wholly sure of that yet.

I plan on pulling the plugs in the AM to check for fouling or improper gap, but I'm curious if the idle and temp could be related. Could my higher CR be causing the ECU to lean things out at idle, making the temps go up, only to richen under higher RPMs and cool down? Do these seem like they could be related?

Please advise! :)

Mine temp needle acted that way because my sensor died. Replaced it and everything went back to normal.

i got the sensors if thats whats the matter....pm me if you need them

I hate to even suggest this, but maybe I could let it run until the needle pegged out high, if it wasn't boiling over, then the temp sensor is obviously the problem eh? Or am I neglecting something here?

Do you think it's at all related to the misfire junk? I'm starting to think separate problem same time. Why must they always fall apart wen you're broke? AUGH! :rolleyes

Get a manual temp gauge and check it. If you don't mind the 2000 mile hike, you can borrow mine. Have you tried just checking to see if you have water in the res? The temp sender to the ECU "could" cause an ignition problem. That would be NOT the sender to your dash though. I believe that you can check the dummy gauge sender in boiling water and a multimeter, but I can't remember off the top of my head.

Well, my overflow tank is sitting right above the "HOT" level when warm, so I know it's good. I do have a little thermocouple I can hook up to the meter and drop in there.

* When the temp gauge is sitting at normal (the middle), about what temp should I read? At the upper limit? Lower limit? This might help me figure out if things are working right.

* Also, I do remember that when this happened yesterday afternoon, the way I noticed it at first was my AC started blowing kinda swampy. This leads me to believe it's actually getting that hot under there. Hmmm...

:wary

if you take your sensor out, have a boiling pot of water, make the wire longer and ground the outside of the sensor..... the gauge should read about half (normal).... boiling water is about 210 degrees or so and should tell you if youre sensor is bad or not

look at your radiator....is it all rotted out? With the ac on the extra fan would turn on and cool it down more.

coolant temp sensor maybe?

Temp gauge is one of the sensors looked at to calc. fuel curve and timing.

I would first look the sensor or the connection to the sensor. Your AC should not be effected by engine temp. Unless the ECU has some temp at which it will shut down AC to help the car from overheating, but I've never heard of this before. Check the two temp sensors on the thermostat housing.



15.9 @ 86.7mph

Smooth idle? We don't need no stinking smooth idle.

Mods List:
http://highlander.dsmpower.com/sig.htm

I got the one referenced in the other post (RE: thanks FranklinDSM). AutoZone PN SU326 even though they told me it was supposed to be SU3040 or something like that. I haven't pulled the old one out yet since it's been too damn hot, but I think it's the same.

Crossing my fingers! Will update in the AM. ;)

I'd replace your thermostat too...

Thermostat is new as of <3000 miles ago. Overslept this morning and had to drive before I could swap. I've been killing time over at KaptainMykes waiting for her to cool off...

This sux. I'm having the same problems right now and most of my stuff is fairly new too. x(

Okay! Here's the update!

After much trouble (wrong sensor twice, then broke the right one once), I have new sneors there in the thermostat housing. My temp gauge is settled down considerably, but I still have my misfire at idle. :(

My temp gauge seems to sit lower than it used to (points to the little waves under then icon on the face), but it will go up there towards the top of the icon, only to drop back down to normal after about 2 seconds. Maybe the higher CR is just making it touchy? Who knows. Now I have to figure out this idle...

Good luck to anyone else dealing with this and thanks to those who offered assistance! :thumbsup

i had the same problem but what i did to fix it was pretty easy, i took the wire off of the sensor and clean the prong w/a wire brush on a dremel and that fixed it right up...

that is the first thing to try when having this problem... good luck though...

later

WTB: Dodge Omni


http://www.geocities.com/shadyporshe851proof/frame_content/indexframe.html

mods: star stage III clutch + 60mm tb + the normal mods, bass, lights well u get the picture

Thanks for all the help! Connectors a re clean and sensors are brand spankin'. So far, all is good in the temp department. I can sit in the sun and idle with the AC on and the temp gauge gets no higher than the top of the icon on the gauge.

W00T!