Is my temperature gauge normal?

[boostedtsiawd]

My 1995 buick century 3.1 v6 temperature stick doesnt go to the middle even after its warmed up and no matter how long i drive it? Thing is heat works great and i dont see any coolant leaks anywhere no check engine light or temperature light on either. The furthest the temp gauge stick will go is to the 2nd line up from the c mark. Some people with the same car have said that theres does the samething so i dunno? Here is a image of the same cluster i have in my car

 

[JHZR2]

Depends upon the car, sender, etc. Some cars sit right in the middle, some elsewhere.

you could well have a stuck open thermostat, and it is winter...

 

[boostedtsiawd]

yea its winter out here but yesterday it was in the 50s and the temp gauge was the samething.

 

[ECUpirate]

Coolant temp sender/sensor? If the heat works fine and the car is not overheating then it's most likely a problem with the gauge or sending circuit. If your thermostat was stuck open it would take forever to get heat, if you were able to get any at all.

 

[boostedtsiawd]

can it possibly be one of the radiator hoses is goin bad?

 

[ECUpirate]

Not likely. Most people only notice a hose is going bad if it ruptures or collapses enough to restrict coolant flow. The fact that your heat works fine and the engine isn't suffering leads me to believe that your cooling system is functioning properly. Any small leaks or inefficiencies usually manifest themselves as engine overheating or lack of heat inside the car.

Edit: I'm not saying that you shouldn't give it a thorough inspection because I certainly would.

 

[randomhero439]

My civic and my accord sit a little below the middle. I expect the "middle" to be 100C or 212F. Most cars thermostats are set to 195F so it would make sense that the needle sits a bit low. Also i will add that if i drive my civic around town in the winter with the heat blasting, it takes like 20min of driving to reach operating temp. But if i turn the fan speed down it heats up very quickly. Small engine dont make much power ha

 

[Donald]

I would replace the thermostat. It should be considered a maintenance item and replaced at say 5 year intervals.

 

[hounddog]

If it was stuck open or closed you would get a CHECK engine light. It would set a code.

 

[HerrStig]

Maybe no code on an OBD I. Thermostats do wear out but so do the senders. There was a time when we installed "winter" stats in the late fall.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
My 1995 buick century 3.1 v6 temperature stick doesnt go to the middle even after its warmed up and no matter how long i drive it? Thing is heat works great and i dont see any coolant leaks anywhere no check engine light or temperature light on either. The furthest the temp gauge stick will go is to the 2nd line up from the c mark. Some people with the same car have said that theres does the samething so i dunno? Here is a image of the same cluster i have in my car


Sounds a lot like a "Stuck open" thermostat.

I changed out the T-stat in this car.. I think. I had a GM V6 once..

boostedtsiawd, do you get heat?

Also, Thermostats cost like $10. Get a 192F degree "Stat." And gasket, it costs $1. Don't use RTV like a certain mechanic of mine did..

Flush (change?) coolant while at it, there is debate about Orange Dexcool vs Green Prestone. I would vote Green Prestone myself.

It can be done in about a half hour, just have a spot where a dog won't come and drink the antifreeze and die. Not cool.

Let us know!

 

[hypervish]

Depends on the car.

All of my Honda's have always sat below middle. All of my Toyota's were always at the middle plus/minus a few degrees.

 

[PF52]

Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
yea its winter out here but yesterday it was in the 50s and the temp gauge was the samething.


I had the same issue with another car (stuck open thermostat) and even in summer, the gauge would read really low. Only when stuck in traffic for awhile would it begin to rise towards "normal". And on a really cold day, there'd be no heat on the highway. I just about died one pre-dawn below-zero morning when I had to do a 200-mile highway drive.

In cold weather, there were occasions where the transmission would be slow to go into TCC lockup, or it wouldn't lockup at all. I didn't have a scan tool at the time but I suspect it was running too cool to go into closed loop. The new thermostat fixed all the issues.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: hypervish
Depends on the car.

All of my Honda's have always sat below middle. All of my Toyota's were always at the middle plus/minus a few degrees.


+1

The Volvo I have sits at "high middle," meaning the temperature needle is exactly horizontal, but due to the orientation of the gauge, sits just high of one hash mark north of "middle"

Quote:

In cold weather, there were occasions where the transmission would be slow to go into TCC lockup, or it wouldn't lockup at all. I didn't have a scan tool at the time but I suspect it was running too cool to go into closed loop. The new thermostat fixed all the issues.


+1

Also... got to the point where the Coolant Temperature Sensor "sailed," and the car wouldn't even start. Crank until the battery was dead, sure. but no start.

New CTS = perfect car, no codes.



OP.. Change that "Stat."

 

[SHOZ]

Factory temp gages are the next step up from idiot lights. The one on my Hyundai Genesis Coupe will read accurately as the temp rises but once it is up to temp the coolant can vary 30F and you cannot see a change. It only works well at the extremes.

They are also resistive devices so any resistance in the circuit over new will change the way the gage reads.

 

[boostedtsiawd]

Yes heat works fine is why i dont think its the thermostat and just something normal with these cars but say the car has been fully warmed up and driven and i just throw it in park for 10-15min just idling the temp gauge stick will slowly rise up.

 

[GearheadTool]

Originally Posted By: boostedtsiawd
Yes heat works fine is why i dont think its the thermostat and just something normal with these cars but say the car has been fully warmed up and driven and i just throw it in park for 10-15min just idling the temp gauge stick will slowly rise up.


Thermostats really don't cost that much.

 

[wrcsixeight]

One day my temp gauge only rose to half of what I was used to seeing.

I replaced the 195f T stat with a 195f.

The Gauge still read low and range of motion was very limited.

Later, I replaced the 1 wire temp sender and it returned to normal.

 

[boostedtsiawd]

so u think i should try and replace the temp sensor first and see what happens? then if that does nothing replace the thermostat? Since both parts are really cheap i minus well.

 

[wrcsixeight]

I don't know whether your vehicle uses one 2+ wire temp sensor for the computer and one single wire sender for the gauge or combines the functions.


Perhaps a OBD1 reader would give a code if they were combined and it was reading low. This might cause a running rich code as well.

Could try disconnecting the sensor and see if the gauge falls flat or the CEL illuminates, but likely someone here knows whether your engine has separate temp senders/sensor or not.

YOu can also test the resistance of sender/ sensors with a Digital multi meter both hot and cold and see if they fall within parameters.