Outside air temp not reading correctly, been to dealer three times now, they replaced sensor twice and replaced body computer as well, still not reading correctly periodically??? when i left dealer last time, was reading ok for the ride home, next day stuck on 60 most of day, on my way home from work it all of a sudden changed to correct temp, 87. i called them, taking back on monday for fourth time!!! thanks,

Replace the valve body. Newer units, you can replace the internal wiring harness. It comes with the temp sensor.

Although I am not familiar with your specific engine, the intake air temp sensor must be located in the air intake box or somewhere in the air stream between there and the throttle body. Usually located just after the air filter to give good reading of outside air temp.

A scan tool would be very helpful here, it may be as simple as a bad coolant temp sensor.

With a scantool you can watch the readings to see what is going on,
it could be a dirty throttle body or sensor.

I'm going to say the outside temp sensor is damaged or disconnected.
The body computer does not know what the outside temp is so the system is disabled. The sensor is probably in the grille area or behind the bumper cover.

If your vehicle is fuel injected the problem you describe could be result of a few different things: 1) Check your Idle Air Control (IAC) sensor/motor. This sensor is located on your vehicles, throttle body. The purpose of this sensor is to control the car's idle under various operating conditions including ambiant temperature. In order for it to function correctly, the internal components must be clean (meaning, little or no carbon build up) and it must be undamaged. Sometimes the IAC can be cleaned; however, if this cleaning procedure is not properly done, the IAC can become damaged. This sensor is also sometimes called the "Cold Start" sensor. A new IAC will cost $50-$100. 2) Check you Coolant Temperature sensor. This senso is located on the top of your engine and is screwed into your intake manifold. When this fails your car will experience starting problems when cold outside. A new Coolant Temp sensor will cost about $100. Take a look at two three solutions first. My guess is your IAC needs to be cleaned or replaced. Good Luck!

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replace temp. sensor not reporting correct temp. to the computer

I would check for a bad coolant temperature sensor, of a bad ambient air temp. sensor. You can check these with a good voltmeter, but a scanner would make things much easier. With the scanner, you can se what the computer thinks these sensors are telling it. If it's 20 outside and one of the sensors reads something like -10, there's the problem, but a five degree variation is not enough to make a difference.

There are four sensors for ambient tempurature and they work in unison to provide information to the temp reading on the dash, the heater control head ( where to direct air, blending of warm/cold/outside/inside air flapper controls) depending on the ambient temp and the inside air temp sensor located just above the radio as well as the sun sensor on the top of the dash as well as the a/c compressor head.

When you start your car, the body control module takes the readings from all sensors, outside air temp located in front of the radiator, air temp sensor located in the airbox ( senses temp of air being drawn in from the outside into the air box), coolant temp, inside air temp sensor and the sun sensor on top of the dash (this is why it takes a few seconds for the climate control system to begine when you start the car). The intake air sensor is 1st priority, inside air second, coolant third, ambient 4th and sun 5th. For instance, if the sun sensor reads the sun is hot but the interior sensor reads cold, the inside akes priority. The goal is for the system to achieve a tempurature inside the car that matches the selected temp. It uses all of the sensors to set the system up to achieve that goal as quickly as possible.

Example; Its mid afternoon, sunny and 40 degrees outside adn your in stop and go traffic. The intake sensor reads 40 degrees, the outside sensor reads 60 degrees (heat from radiator...engine heat protrudes into cabin) and the sun sensor reads high (sun is strong). The system is set for 72. priority one sensor reads 40, inside sensor reads 65, ambient reads 60= system will blow hot air to the floor out put, dash outlets will lightly flow 65 degree air so the sun doesnt roast you yet your feet are cold(if it blew hot air from all outlets, your upper body would be hot but your legs/feet would be cold). as the interior sensor reaches desired temp, air will be distrubuted through thee dash, defrost and floor with the warmest air coming out the floor and defrost, coolest air out the dash vents. Its a complex system!

The two sensors that will screw the system up the most are the intake and interior sensors. the system will function reasonably well with just those two sensors though it wont blend air temps between outlets if the sun sensor isnt working. If the outside sensor fails, it simply uses the intake sensor, if the intake sensor fails it will rely on the front sensor. However, since the intake takes priority over the outside sensor, if the intake sensor sends incorrect resistance info rather than failing, it will take priority and cause the unit to malfunction such as in your case.

The intake air sensor can be changed from the outside with patience. If it where me, I would pay the two hrs labor and let the dealer do it right.

Kevin,
Kevins Small Engine service,
South Berwick ME. 03908

when its at -40 usually its because the ambient temp sensor is not sending the proper signal to the controller.. it may just be disconnected.. the sensor it behind the grille.. it has a 2 wire connector to it ... itf its connected it may havea broken wire from body damage in an accident... its rare that the sensor fails..

As of this morning, the outside air temperature was indicating correctly. I suspect that washing the car using high pressure spray near the grill somehow caused the sensor to malfunction until it dried out.