Temp Guage Reads 100 Degrees

[Avengence]

Well I drove home from my parents house today (about a 2 and a half hour drive) and when I got near my house I was gonna check what my temp was (I have a picture over the temp guage) and this time when I checked it, it was saying that its 100 degrees. I turned off my car and went inside, then I went out and got some food and it still did it after I started up my car again. It sounds like the fan is stuck on too. What do you guys think it is? Thermostat went bad or something? I havent checked my coolant level yet because it was too dark but I am not gonna drive my car till I know what it is. Any help would be great, thank you.

[Xidion]

stat could be stuck open.

[4kQuad]

Do you get any HOT air from the heater.

If the heater is blowing hot, I would check the sending unit for the water temp. If it is blowing cool, then I would also guess the stat.

[kinggoosey]

I have a GT but it has the same motor in it as you do. Normal running temperature is 200 which should be with the needle pointing straight up.

[5xblack]

My car is doing the same thing, temp gauge reads 100 degrees although the engine is hot (heater is blowing hot air). Fans are running all the time. I replaced the temp sensor, still have this problem, any other ideas.
Avengence, how did you fix it?

[5xblack]

I still have this problem. Fans always run, temp gauge reads 100 degrees all the time even though the engine is hot.
Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 5xblack
I still have this problem. Fans always run, temp gauge reads 100 degrees all the time even though the engine is hot.
Anybody have any ideas on how to fix this?

It's problem with the coolant temp sensor or it's wiring. When it goes bad or is disconnected the PCM turns the fans on by default. Since you replaced the sensor, time to diagnose the wiring... you may need access to a scan tool that can read sensor input values from the PCM.

[mario]

5xblack,
Sounds silly, but do you drive your car with the climate control switch to “defog” (yellow range area on the dial?)
It happened to me when I first got my GrandAM, and I needed 2 days to figure why is the fan working at all time. I think this made me to register to this forum.

[5xblack]

mario- I don't drive in the defog position because that would cause my A/C to run and shoot my gas mileage way down, also it would cause the cooling fans to run. Thanks for the suggestion though. Please keep sending any other ideas.

Matt95GT- I also thought wiring, but the problem is intermittent. Seems to be related to cold weather outside. No problems in the summer. Go figure. Do you still think wiring?

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 5xblack
Matt95GT- I also thought wiring, but the problem is intermittent. Seems to be related to cold weather outside. No problems in the summer. Go figure. Do you still think wiring?

Could be... remember that temperature affects resistence not to mention thermal expansion... so a loose connection somewhere might only occur in the cold.

[zismat07]

how do you get the fans to run all the time i thought they kick in at 210 around there

[5xblack]

Hey, I just pulled the fuses for the cooling fans and my temp gage started working again. I don't need cooling fans in the winter do I? I know I should get this fixed, but I hate taking my car in to have someone else work on it. Any ideas on how I can troubleshoot this problem further.

[Matt95GT]

Originally posted by 5xblack
I don't need cooling fans in the winter do I?

They are still needed - a radiator needs moving air to be efficient. It will overheat in traffic if sitting long enough.