Ambient temperature in mirror is wrong

[Beatdowncity]

The ambient temperature display in my rear view mirror has started reading 106-110 degrees all the time. Even in the morning when it is 70 degrees in my garage. I replace the sensor and that changed nothing. The wiring and plug look to be in good shape. I will try to check voltage when I get home.

I was not able to find this problem anywhere online. Wanted to see if any of ya had an idea what it could be.

[Jaredthefail]

The ambient temperature display in my rear view mirror has started reading 106-110 degrees all the time. Even in the morning when it is 70 degrees in my garage. I replace the sensor and that changed nothing. The wiring and plug look to be in good shape. I will try to check voltage when I get home.

I was not able to find this problem anywhere online. Wanted to see if any of ya had an idea what it could be.

Just out of curiosity where is the sensor located? I've always wondered that because mine reads an extra 10-20 degrees when it sits but when I drive it it's almost right?

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

Behind the front bumper and clipped to the rad support or very close.


Temp readings while sitting as normally always higher, there is no airflow and heat gets trapped in the area the sensor it. Once the vehicle is moving it will read far better as actual ambient air is flowing past it. Even my 2012 truck is like this in the summer.

[eeyan]

I have a similar problem but opposite. We've had a few triple digit days and my thermometer was reading in the range of 49-69 degrees until I got on the highway and it'd bump up to 110 even if it was only 90 out. It really messes with the automatic thermostat. The AC will freeze me out of the car sometimes. This doesn't help OP but is there something I can do? (thread jack, sorry)

[nik12937]

I imagine you could extend the wiring and mount the thermostat directly behind the grill to get more accurate readings. The further it is from the radiator and condenser, the better.

[Swiggles]

The heat from your engine can raise the ambient temp, mine raises about 6 degrees or more if I'm sitting in traffic on a hot day. My car is black too so it's usually a couple degrees higher than the temp on the bank sign I drive by, and will be higher after sitting parked in the sun all day even in winter. After driving down the road and letting fresh air hit the sensor it levels off though.

But for yours to read that much higher is a bad sensor

Oh and on my gp I added the mirror with temp and mounted the sensor on the bumper bar, still did the thing.