I have had my new Ram for a couple days and have noticed the temp reading is off a bit. When i got the truck it read 100 which was probly right, but now it has been staying at 74-76 today it did get up to 83 which is still a little cooler than outside. I did notice it took some road time to get to 83 and i was wondering if it is because i am not on the road for long my drive is only 10 minutes from work to home I have not drove it anywhere further yet. Is this something that corrects with driving it or is there a problem?


Thanks for the help. Im a Dodge NOOB

 

Mine seems pretty accurate so far.

 

Doesn't sound like anything is wrong with it. The sensor is next to the radiator; it takes some airflow to read accurately.

From the service manual

TEMPERATURE DISPLAY
All the available overhead consoles on this model
include Temperature information. The temperature
displays the outside ambient temperature in whole
degrees. The temperature display can be toggled
from Fahrenheit to Celsius by selecting the desired
U.S./Metric option from the customer programmable
features. The displayed temperature is not an instant
reading of conditions, but an average temperature. It
may take the temperature display several minutes to
respond to a major temperature change, such as driving
out of a heated garage into winter temperatures.
When the ignition switch is turned to the Off position,
the last displayed temperature reading stays in
the electronic control modules, (CMTC, EVIC) memory.
When the ignition switch is turned to the On
position again, the electronic module will display the
memory temperature for one minute; then update the
display to the current average temperature reading
within five minutes.

 

I REALLY can't see the sensor being by the radiator..

I don't know where it is, but have noticed that if I fire up the truck immediately after cleaning the inside of the glass with Windex, it reads EXTREMELY low... As in -40F for about 10 minutes....

Barring the 'cleaning' issue.. it's been within a degree or two of the various banks I pass during my commute.

 

Mine does the same thing, but as the poster above pointed out it averages out after about 5-10 minutes.

 

Thanks for the replies it seems to be reading fairly accurate now i took it on a 45 minute drive last night and went by a bank and the temp was a couple degrees off so i am happy with that.

 

If you pop open the hood and look at your drivers side headlight, you'll notice the sensor just to the left of the headlight (when looking at the truck from front to back). Mine is reasonably accurate and is usually a degree or two with other sources; whether it be a bank or radio weather news, etc.

 

your ambiant temp sensor is on the inside bumper beside the radiator on the pass. side.It is normal to take up to 10 minutes to get a proper reading.It may read -40 or so if it sits in the extreme heat for a while but as I said will read proper after 10-15mins. max.

 

You might try cleaning the electrical contacts to the sensor.
Get them clean & bright, then protect them with dielectric grease.

The sensor is an electrical device called a 'thermistor'
and higher resistance shows up as colder temperatures.

You can check the calibration of that sensor, the battery temp sensor, the IAT or CTS:
see old post below:
---
I unscrewed my IAT sensor this morning. It takes a deep well 3/4 socket and a
little L shaped piece of coat hanger wire to release the catch on the
electrical plug.

This 'thermistor' sensor is mounted in Cylinder 1 intake manifold runner on
passenger side front.

I wanted to inspect it to see if it had oil/crud on it.

Sure enough it did.

I take this as evidence that the PCV oily vapor does contaminate the 1-3-5-7
cylinders. {It is also possible I have a bellypan gasket leak but I pass the
positive pressure in block test}

I cleaned the IAT with BrakeKleen spray.

I then dunked it in a bowl of ice cubes mixed with water, which should be
32.2F
My IAT at 32.2 read 30,700 ohms.
{spec is between 29,330 min and 35,990 at 32F, O Centigrade}

I then put the IAT in boiling water which should be 211-212 where I am 13 feet
above sea level.
My IAT reading at 212 was 670 ohms
{spec is 640 to 720 at 212 according to page 14-58 of 1995 FSM}

In watching how fast the ohms changed as temperatur changed on a Fluke 87
meter it seemed kinda sluggish to me for a sensor that is supposed to rapidly
react to changing air temperature when you stomp the throttle and go to wide
open throttle.

 

that was way too technical of an answer there buddy ; )