I have searched my Owners Manual, my really thick Helms, and this Board. I found no reference.

I was suspect my Temprerature shown in my dashboard message center (lower right) was off. I placed an accurate thermometer in the cab and the comparison was that the message center tempreature was much lower than the cab tempreture.

Where to I adjust the message center temprerature guage?

 

Um, that's the *outside* temperature reading -- the sensor is up by the front bumper. No relationship to the cab temp.

 

OK, I shall move my test thermometer up front and see what happens.

In case anyone else wishes to reply to this, where is the outside sensor in the bumper area? Yes I have looked, both from under and with the hood up.

The test thermometer still shows a difference of 13º difference in the reading, with the message center reading the lower figure. i.e. 77º/90º.

 

the sensor is right in front of the radiator i believe...mine is accurate while i am driving...but if it bakes in the sun it reads a lot higher. it may be more of a novelty than anything...i mean i wouldnt use the figure to report the nightly news...or decide whether it was safe to leave a kid in the car.

 

MJ is correct...it's in front of the radiator in the center, just under the hood catch. There are 2 sensors; the top one is the temp sensor, and the bottom one (rectangular-shaped) is the front impact sensor for the airbag sensor.

 

Mine is also off several degrees and is slow to respond to any changes in temperature. Previous threads have indicated it may be the sender and sometimes a reflash corrects the problem. Mine is supposed to be looked at next Tuesday.

 

Many thanks guys.

I live in Agriculture country which also means citrus. In the winter many citrus vehicles have a little probe sticking out the front grill. This is to allow the driver to travel through citrus orchards during "frost patrol" to see where the freeze is lying while reading the tempretures while still seated in the cab Very simple device, quite inexpensive.

OK, I have found my temp sensor. And I did find a variance in the true temp and the message center temp while my rig was parked in the garage. After a few blocks of driving I believe the truer temp showed up on in the message center.

Appreciate your help.

 

FYI,

My ambient temp gauge was always way off until I drove a couple of miles. The dealer reflashed my computer and it is dead accurate at all times now. For some odd reason, this also fixed my warm ac problem.

 

I read on someone elses post that the climate control system used the outside tempature gauge as a input to decide on how hard to cool the interior. So, if you AC thought it was a cooler outside, it may not adjust itself to the proper cooling mixture. Of course that only would apply to the fancy control systems with the temp setting. My XLT has the old school 'twist a ****' fuction.


Don't know if thats true or not, just something I remember reading awile back.

 

I've had outside temp sensors in my vehicles going back to '89. You need to understand how they work. They will be fooled by heat coming off the pavement or from an idling engine. (In reality, they're not being fooled, they're just recording the much-higher temps generated from those conditions). The most accurate reading is one that comes while the vehicle is underway. Keep in mind that the temp above the street is still hotter than in other areas, as the asphalt/concrete absorb and radiate the sun's heat. (Ever notice how much cooler the air is when you drive by a large field/park?) Finally, you've got to realize that these sensors are programmed specifically to adjust the temps only about every 10-15 seconds, and then by no more than one degree at a time. So, from being parked in the hot sun, it can take a couple of minutes before the guage gets to an accurate reading. BTW, the reason for this is to normalize what you see in the dash. If you saw the temp change from 95 to 82, you'd be thinking "What the heck?". Also, the gauge would appear "jumpy" as you passed by fields, etc: 85, 81, 85... Customers would complain it wasn't working properly, expecting some kind of warranty treatment.

 

Yes, the computer-controlled climate systems found in some cars/trucks do use both the exterior and interior temp sensors to determine the need for heat, A/C, fan speed, etc.

In my car, the system is smart enough in cold temps to not turn on the heater blower until warm air would come out. No sense in blasting cold air on an already-cold person!

 

I have a 04 F-150 Lariat manufactured on 17 July 2003. Once I got the PCM reflash done the Temperature Display was more accurate, responded to changes much faster and the AC works much better.

Only problem I ever had with the truck!

 

WOW!! Thanks guys - I never would have two and two together in regards to the Climate control taking input from the outside temp sensor....my '05 Lairat's message center temp reading is always on the low side - even when underway and the AC has never blown as cold as I think it should!!! Wonder if that's the issue with my AC as well!! Kind of scary that Ford relies on such a potentially "inaccurate" sensor for the AC.....good thing the ECU doesn't rely on this sensor's input for engine parameter adjustments!

 

My F-150 has the manual controls, but I have had several cars (12-20) with climate control. On all of them, putting it to max cooling bypassed all the sensors and put the system in maximum loop cooling.
On those with dials, setting it to 60 or 65 or whatever the lowest blue temp was again, put it in full cool.
You might try that and see. If it's temp sendor related, that would 'fool' it.
Chris

 

I kept reading in posts about the temperature guage located at center radiator having a controlling influense on the Air Conditioning temperature within the cab of our pickups. After reading my Owners Manual, my 11"X11" F-150 Brochure, and my Helms I have concluded I was not mixed up.

From the F-150 Brochure I read that only the Lariat comes with the "Air Conditioning - Electronic Automatic Temperature Control". With all other F-150's the EATC is "not available", but "Air Conditioning" is available on all other F-150's. I assume the latter means Manual A/C.

I was mixed up because no matter the outside temperature my Manual Air Conditioning was quite adequate requiring very little changing once the cab was up to a desired comfort temperature. My wonderment came about with my posts about the value of the little black box behind the center rear view mirror, which is the compass. My posts led into replies that the black box was a temperature guage, which is not true.

I am glad I am straight on that.....or am I. Comments invited.