Ambient Air Temperature Sensor

[SteveG66]

Has anyone had to replace theirs yet? We have an 07 GT AWD that my wife loves. She has said a few times the temperature "thingy" was reading a little high. Well, lo and behold, I drove it last night and it was saying it was hotter than it was, at least according to the bank sign and my phone.

I assume it's the sensor that would need replaced, I am fairly certain that if it's easy, I could do it. The car is outta warranty at 45k miles, so it's on my dime. I know I could just live with it, however, I like to keep things working the way they are supposed to.

Anyone else have to replace it? How hard of a job is it? Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help,
SteveG

 

[cccx9]

It isn't the most accurate thing to begin with but it is usually pretty close. Ours is usually within 2 degrees of the correct temp after driving for about 5 min. How many degrees are we talking about?

I have found that bank sign temperatures are usually way off and your phone is telling you the temp at the nearest weather station, not from your actual location. That could be the reason for the discrepancy.

 

[not_too_shabby]

Mine consistently reads 4-6 degrees hotter than outside air temp and the discrepancy gets worse as it gets colder. This is especially annoying when temps are near freezing and you want to know if there could be frozen water on the road. There is a big difference between 41F and 35F! If you look where the sensor is mounted, it's too close to the engine and it picks up heat from the engine. The bracket also shields it from the incoming air flow. I'm tempted to drill some holes in the bracket to see if the increased air flow would make it more accurate. I complained to the dealer and they said there is no spec and since it was reasonably close they wouldn't do anything. Also the sensor takes 5 minutes to get down to ambient where my old VW and our MB would get down to ambient by the time I had left me neighborhood.

 

[SteveG66]

Well, I guess I'm glad I'm not the only one.

It really concerned me when we were pulling the camper as it started getting warmer, got to about 97 degrees, however it seems to want to stay at 92.

I don't believe the sensor is very expensive, around $20 on the internet, so I may just replace and see how it goes.

Thanks for your inputs and I will let you know what we come up with.

Steve

 

[ceric]

The sensor is located inside the front bumper.
Depending on whether the hot air from engine bay gets to it (such as engine iddling, no cool air getting in), the temp may be affected.

 

[CX9 SportOwner]

While driving ours is very accurate. Any time you stop for longer than a light, it will go up a few degrees.