Coolant temp sensor issues
#1
Coolant temp sensor issues
So I have a 1998 ram 1500 5.2 auto. My coolant temp gauge is reading low currently. I have replaced the water pump. Thermostate twice now cause it was in my plenium gasket kit. I have tried to replace coolant temp sensor with single pin and double sensor. Both read that it is low. I am also having the issues of rough idle and dying when coming back down in rpms. My idle air control valve seems to b working correctly but have a new one on the way to take that out of the question the truck has a full new tune up i am wondering if anyone has a fix for this or a way to bypass this for the engine to run correctly and just use a store bought gauge thanks in advance
#2
Your truck only has one temp sensor, and both the gauge, and the PCM use it. Need to find out if the sensor is simply mis-reporting, or there is some other issue going on. Check temp with an IR thermometer, and see if the gauge is actually telling the truth. Might also plug in with a scanner, and see what temp the PCM thinks the engine is.
#3
The 98 model year has a sensor with two pins which both connect back to the PCM. As HeyYou wrote the sensor is used for both engine management and the gauge. Below is a table of what the sensor should read at different temperatures. Also consider that bad wiring might cause the PCM to read high resistance which is interpreted as low temperature.
#5
I currently have the double pin sensor hard wired in to the harness that Is sotterd and installed cleanly. Would reversing the wires make a difference to and as for being able to hold the hose that was out of the raditor side so the cool side back into the engine but I also have id say decent heat also to show more that it is up to temp.
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#8
No its totally fine I honestly thought the same thing. I checked the Chilton manual I have from napa and it was in correctly. I just went through and replaced the theromostate with a new one from napa and I gained ground on the temp gauge I'm about half way to 210 with a 195 state. I did test the state before I put it in the truck and checked out ok so I guess I'm still stumped on why I'm not there yet endless its just the cluster is off and my IAC valve is bad
#9
Plug in with a scanner, and see what the PCM thinks engine temp is. (your local parts store should be able to do that for you.) I went from a 96 truck to a 98, and the temp gauge on the 98 reads WAY different than the 96 did. To the point that I thought I had a bad thermostat as well, so, I changed it, only for nothing to be any different.... Plugged in with a scanner, and low and behold, 195 degrees......