ntrainer

Anybody else have a wildly inaccurate (exterior) temperature gauge? I've really started noticing this summer as I drive our new-to-me TSX Wagon that it's anywhere from 2-5 degrees off. Sometimes it's high, sometimes low... just not accurate.

Asked the dealership during our "A" service to take a look at it and they claimed they "recalibrated" the temperature gauge. Doesn't seem any better to me. I'm likely going back to have them replace it, since it should be under warranty, but I'm just asking: Anybody else have this issue? Is this car just plagued with an inaccurate temperature gauge? Or is it worth an hour of my time to get it replaced?

leo200617

Can you describe how inaccurate the temperature readout is? (During what situation?) How do you compare the real temperature vs. the temperature readout of the car? Is it in Fahrenheit or Celsius? A couple degrees Celsius off is more problematic.

ntrainer

The reading is often off by as much as 5-7 degrees Fahrenheit. Example: When I retrieved it from the service department, the car had been baking in the (cloudy) sun and told me it was 88 degrees outside. Weather.com told me it was 81. Within 20 minutes of driving (home), we were down to 75 degrees, when (at home) it was actually 79 degrees.

So it's not consistently "hot" or consistently "cold." Just consistently wrong.

iCrap

you can adjust it in the settings... put it in park and i think you just hold the I button until it comes up with some settings. I got into that menu once.

Mine seems fairly accurate. It's never accurate when the car has been sitting for a while but after 5 minute or so its just right.

ntrainer

How will "adjusting" the gauge help if sometimes it's high and sometimes it's low? I have a feeling this is what they did at the dealership. They took "x" and made it "x+2." Didn't work.

ssjoeboe9

Whats the I button?

ntrainer

Yeah, I don't understand that, either. Went through all possible menus and there wasn't a way for me to adjust the temperature reading.

ceb

The sensor is behind the bumper. Tarmac reflects heat and causes the sensor to read high because the temps are higher there.

Once driving, the airflow cools it down - sometimes a bit lower than the ambient temps.

To check how accurate the sensor is, park your car in a garage overnight. Put a thermometer that you know is accurate on the front bumper. Let the car and the thermometer sit overnight.

Check the thermometer and start the car. How accurate is your sensor?

iCrap

The I button... the thing with the big I on it. I dont know how else to describe it lol. It's in the same menu where you adjust your headlight auto off and interior light auto off

leo200617

What I would do to determine if it is broken or not, I would use a digital thermometer, and compare the temperature just after driving the car (or while driving it). Using weather.com as a source is good but won't be very precise (There might be small temperature variations between 2 locations even if they are just a mile away). You will get the exact local temperature using a digital thermometer and then the comparison would be fair.

If the readings are still off by a couple degrees, I would say to just live with it. There's not much adjustment you could do except setting it like T=T+2 in the MID settings.

ceb

Not quite right. The car's sensor is near the ground and affected by reflected heat. Read my post above that describes the proper way of checking.

ssjoeboe9

show me a pic

xtcnrice

It's on your steering wheel, like the opposite side to where the HFL buttons go. It's an "i" that looks like the symbol you see at shopping malls and stuff that represents the information desk IIRC.

Basically the button you press to get to additional information on your MID, like showing the exact PSI of each tire, or showing the oil life %, etc.

icu2tsx

I have 3 vehicles (Hyundai, Subaru, Acura) and all 3 give me different outside temp readings and never really the same temp as weather.com or yahoo weather.

As mention by others the car will read different temperatures depending on exposure to different ambient. Example: Hyundai is my company work car, as soon as I get home from work I will swap cars and take the Tsx or Forester to run errands. Hyundai will read outside temp as 98, weather.com says 94. As soon as I swap cars and take the TSX out from garage, Tsx temp reads 90, after a few min on the road it reads 96-98.

cu2wagon

Steering wheel, right hand side, about 4:00 in the center area. Up Arrow / "I" button: