I ask this becuase all morning here in miami they keep on saying its 46 degrees. and my car reads 55 degrees. Those few degrees do make a difference. I mean not that i will freeze to death but i mean you feel it. So i dont understand why it says 55 when its 46?

 

I always "calibrate" it to -3... but it's still a little higher than the actual temp.

 

sorry i dont have navi. but maybe i need to read the manual. becuase i have no idea u can calibrate it. thanks rets

 

How do you calibrate it?

 

I'm not sure I follow your question, but I'll answer what I think you are asking. It sounds to me like what you are saying is that the weatherman on the radio says it is 46 and your MID says it is 55. The question then is, where is the radio station's broadcast location? The temperature might be different there from where your car is. I encounter that every morning--the radio stations here give the temperature at all three airports (Reagan, Dulles, and BWI) and the temperature on my MID is ALWAYS lower than the reading given for Reagan but usually somewhat higher than for Dulles (BWI is some 40 miles away so it's irrelevant to me). I live maybe 10 miles southwest of Reagan. But this is normal and the folks on the radio know it--it's why they give the temperature for all three airports. (Back in the early 1980s, when Dulles was still considered out in the sticks, we had to badger the TV and radio to give the temperature for Dulles. Especially in winter it is always colder than it is downtown.)

Is this the gist of your question?

 

[QUOTE]I ask this becuase all morning here in miami they keep on saying its 46 degrees. and my car reads 55 degrees. Those few degrees do make a difference. I mean not that i will freeze to death but i mean you feel it. So i dont understand why it says 55 when its 46?[QUOTE]

Yeah I was having the same problem. so I went to the dealership and all they told me was that on average it usually takes about 20 minutes for the temperature to set right, and they're also saying that its not always goin to be very accurate because the car is moving, so i donno

 

Yeah i was having the same problem. I went by the dealership and they just told me that it usually takes about 20 minutes to get the temperature about right, however even then it will never been a hundred percent accurate because it is a moving vehicle

 

Acura info on Temp Sensor Logic + Calibration

 

If anyone goes to calibrate, note that the first post in the thread Ron A linked says that the adjustment is done in Celsius. One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees F.

(There's another off-topic ramble.....why can't we hit a button to switch the MID to kilometres and degrees Celsius for travel out of the US....but I'll save that for another day.)

 

I know that my reading is usually 3-4 degrees higher than what it is actually outside. There's nothing wrong with the sensor...remember, you're talking about a moving car with a hot engine trying to guage the outside temp. It will never be dead on, but my reading is consistant enough to know to lower the reading 3-4 degrees.

 

I have had the car a year and have the same issue.

My previous car (volvo) had an exterior temp sensor that worked fine.

I have heard that the placement on the vehicle can effect their performance.

Has anyone had success with the dealer fixing the issue?

 

Also the sensor provides the temp reading, where the car is at that time, and does not take into account the wind chill as many weather forecasts tell you. The range does vary due to your location. Are you parked in the shade, in the garage, in the sun etc... it's meant to provide you with a regular sense of the temp not an 100% reading....

great infor provided by RavenHwk at https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67481

 

Mine's dead on because I adjusted it in September, after the thing went flatline on me. What I did was very simple and very accurate.

I bought an outside thermometer, about 5 inches in diameter, and hung it under the front bumper on a Friday evening, right next to the outside temperature sensor. The next morning, I got under the car and noted the temperature, then turned the ignition to accessory and set the outside temperature display. Then I checked the readings and made one correction and it was dead on the money. I still periodically check it just to make sure it's accurate.. which it is.

 

An Acura rep called me regarding my issue with the Temp. I told him that my '02 TL didn't have temp reading problems and he told me that Acura changed the location of the sensor but he sensor was the same.

Mine reads about three degrees lower then what a bank's temp reading is. The Rep did say that Acura/Honda engineers were going to come to various markets to look at some owners cars.

 

somehow I find the confliction funny

 

The adjustment is actually done in whatever mode your car displays, so there is no adjustment necessary.

The statement "It can be adjusted by plus or minus 3 degrees!!!" takes into account your method of temperature measurement, so no calculation or conversion is necessary. a one degree setting will change either method by one degree.

In the service manual, page 22-267, it says:

Example:
Incorrect value= 68 degF (20 degC)

Desired correction value = +2 degF (+1 degC)
Correct value= 70 degF (21 degC)

Desired Correction value= -2 degF (-1 degC)
Correct value= 66 deg F (19 degC)

 

Fair enough. I was just going by what it said in the other thread you had linked--the post there had said it is in Celsius.

 

You're absolutely correct, and oddly, that is the only place in the whole post that celsius is mentioned.

I have to think that this is an error, since the service manual, as referenced above, shows a 2 degree fahrenheit change for every one degree of celsius change, going along with your conversion factor of 1.8 (rounded off).

Your statement: "One degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees F", has to be adjusted by the 32 degree difference in the freezing temperature, so to accurately compute the temperature using the 1.8 factor in the example 68 degF=20 degC, you have to multiply 20 degC X 1.8, which = 36, and then add 32, which will then = 68.

So I guess you would need to say that "one degree Celsius is equal to 1.8 degrees F +32".

 

Good link Ron.

As for me, I just use the temp display to give me and idea. I personally don't care if it's a lil off cuz it wouldn't make a difference . By the time I get into my car, I should know if I need a jacket or not. Now if the display would tell me if it's going to rain or not..than maybe it would be more of an issue, but at any rate there's always an umbrilla in the trunk.

 

Well, yes and no. What I meant by that statement was that if all you want to do is to turn something down by 3 degrees Celsius, and you normally measure in F degrees, you have to know that one degree Celsius (taken simply as a unit of measure) is the equivalent of 1.8 degrees F. That is to say, to make a three-degree adjustment, you aren't so much concerned with the starting and ending numbers.

Otherwise, though, you are correct if you are talking about correlating a particular temperature in Celsius to a particular temperature in F degrees, rather than simply noting the "value" of a degree as I meant.

The 1.8 was easy enough to determine. The Celsius scale uses 0 as the water freezing point and 100 as the water boiling point (highly sensible IMO!). The F scale uses 32 and 212, respectively. So you subtract 32 from 212 and then divide by 100 and that's the degree equivalent.

 

ok..... dont no what anybody was saying.... but just my 2 cents; r u coming out of a garage??? this is the only thing that has affected the temp reader and after 3 minutes of , it read correctly...

 

I have set mine to -2 degrees since it was always reading a little high. It's been more accurate now that the weather has gotten colder. However, I don't expect it to be perfect since the sensor is placed so close to the motor and the ground. It's approximate at best. I ususally look to my local XM's traffic report/weather channel to see the temps. Of course, it's taken from the airport but it gives you a guide.

dsc888