Engine Temp gauge won't work

[Arctc Wolf]

I've had this problem before. When the weather get's cold, as in 40 or below, my engine temp needle drops to zero or turns itself off. When this happens, a service engine soon light comes on and gives me a code saying that my coolant isn't getting hot enough. I have a 160* thermo and tuning from TSP for it. what could be the problem?

[BLLDOGG]

I dont really know why your temp gauge would bottom out and i wanna say that it sounds like the 160* thermo isnt letting your coolant get hot enough but the gauge problem i would think is connected.

what is the code? cause the sensor might just be taking a dump.

[ November 29, 2005, 10:16 PM: Message edited by: BLLDOGG ]

[Little G]

TSP prob didn't delete the coolant thermostat code(138 i think?). Anyway, once that code is set to "no error reported", your problem will be solved.

g

[foff667]

Originally posted by Little G:
TSP prob didn't delete the coolant thermostat code(138 i think?). Anyway, once that code is set to "no error reported", your problem will be solved.

g

werd...i think the later model v6 cars have this issue with 160* thermos...my gtp did.

[blacksport]

I had a 160 at one time and my car ran at about 100 degrees in cold weather. I'd say its the thermo.

[Arctc Wolf]

The code is the DTC warm-up code. The problem is, it's the same code I was having before the gauge went dead. The code happened during the summer as well. So, I know the code wouldn't kill the gauge, so could it be the engine temp sensor being dead, or something else?

[viper98885]

Keep in mind that the gauge is controlled by your temperature switch which is a single wire sensor in the cylinder head. Many people think that it runs off of the engince coolant temperature sensor which is incorrect.

[98Camaro3.8]

Originally posted by viper98885:
Keep in mind that the gauge is controlled by your temperature switch which is a single wire sensor in the cylinder head. Many people think that it runs off of the engince coolant temperature sensor which is incorrect.

Do you have any more information on this? Is it only 3.4s, or 3.8s also? I've never heard of this and cannot find any info to support it. Where is this sensor at?

[viper98885]

Originally posted by 98Camaro3.8:
Do you have any more information on this? Is it only 3.4s, or 3.8s also? I've never heard of this and cannot find any info to support it. Where is this sensor at?

Looked into it a little more. In 1996, with the intro of the 3.8L V6, they changed the ECT (Engine Coolant Temperature) sensor to a 3-prong sensor from a 2-prong sensor.

The older 3.4L V6 uses one sensor in the cyliner head that is a single wire and then a seperate ECT with two wires.

The new 3.8's have the two sensors combined into a 3-prong setup which is located on the front of the intake manifold.

[kristen]

i was having the same problem since i put the 160 thero in my car like 8 months ago. and a few weeks ago i draied and flushed my coolant. now it works. it's worth a shot

[arthansen]

The problem is the way the car reads the temperature. If it is too low for to long, it just drops out the reading. I had a 160* and it happened all the time. I would clear the code and in about 20 minutes it would come back (it might even have been the second cycle, some codes have to go twice before they regester). I called Hypertech and they said this was a problem with late model 3.8L V6's. I switched to the 180* and the problem went away.

Then I got HPTuners, deleted the code (138 I think), put the 160* back, no more problems. There is nothing wrong with the thermostate, no ones car was running at 100*, and the gausge is doing what it is suppose to. Either delete the code or get a 180*.