Coolant Temp Sensor? - Idle goes with it.
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Junior User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 63
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Coolant Temp Sensor? - Idle goes with it.
99 Explorer 4.0 OHV 5Spd 85K
The deal is the tempurature gauge reads it's cold; most of the time. I'd be crusing on the freeway for 45 minutes, and it would raise to operating tempurature ...but after coming back off the freeway, it would sit right back down to cold. The worst part of it all, is that the Idle, goes with it.
So, say im driving down the freeway for an hour, pull off on a exit and idle, my tempurature gauge will 'read' cold and idle somewhere around 1000.
Jump back on the freeway, and it goes back up to operating tempurature.
I went to AutoZone and picked up a 15$ Coolant sensor, havn't put it in yet tho. (weather/time holding me back) I was reading and it looks like there is 2 different sensors on the housing, one operating the gauge, one reading the temp of the coolant, I bought the repelacment for the coolant.
Could it also be a theromostat? Is this sensor going to fix the problem? Could the other be faulty as well? I've been drivin this thing for the last 3 weeks and never seen it idle below 1000. It's really sad.
Help!
The deal is the tempurature gauge reads it's cold; most of the time. I'd be crusing on the freeway for 45 minutes, and it would raise to operating tempurature ...but after coming back off the freeway, it would sit right back down to cold. The worst part of it all, is that the Idle, goes with it.
So, say im driving down the freeway for an hour, pull off on a exit and idle, my tempurature gauge will 'read' cold and idle somewhere around 1000.
Jump back on the freeway, and it goes back up to operating tempurature.
I went to AutoZone and picked up a 15$ Coolant sensor, havn't put it in yet tho. (weather/time holding me back) I was reading and it looks like there is 2 different sensors on the housing, one operating the gauge, one reading the temp of the coolant, I bought the repelacment for the coolant.
Could it also be a theromostat? Is this sensor going to fix the problem? Could the other be faulty as well? I've been drivin this thing for the last 3 weeks and never seen it idle below 1000. It's really sad.
Help!
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,450
Likes: 2
From: Baltimore
I'd start by replacing the T-stat and see if that makes a difference as to how your gauge and/or idling act. It sounds like the tstat could be stuck open. If it sticks closed, you can damage the engine. Tstat is a cheap and easy fix that is part of normal maintenance. Make sure you also get a new O-ring gasket for the tstat. Not all of them include it.
