my maxima has been like this since i got it last year and so i am thinking it might be time to get around to fixing it!

once the car is started, within a few minutes the temp gauge is up in the normal position. after a while, the gauge will instantly drop down to the lowest point like when the car is off. some times it'll pop back up to the normal position, but since it's reaches normal literally within minutes of driving, i don't think that's an accurate reading anyway.

the radiator fans never come at all. the only time they have ever come on was when i was changing the coolant and they came on for a few seconds while i was filling it with new coolant. once it had coolant in again, they turned off never to turn on again. turning the a/c on doesn't make the fans come on either.

an aftermarket water temp gauge has been fitted by the previous owner obviously instead of fixing the actual problem, so at least i can tell when the water temp is getting up.

from these symptoms, i'd guess that the likely issue would be the engine coolant temp sensor or the thermal transmitter? i dont think it would be a thermostat issue? would these be fairly easy to replace with a decent owners manual?

 

They are both pretty simple to change over and the parts are cheap too. I heard something likt $15 for them (im in the UK so things are priced abit different)

Off the top of my head, I dont think you need to remove the plenum to get to them. If you do it will only be the upper plenum. They both just bolt in to the engine block coolant intake pipe.

To locate them, find the top hose on your rad, trace it back to the engine and you will find where the hose connects to the metal intake of the engine. There you will find two sensors on either side of the metal inlet. These are what you will need to replace.

 

first thing I would do is disconnect the coolant temp SENSOR and see if the fans kick on then. They should, if they don't then you have bigger issues to figure out.

 

my money is on coolant temp sensor.

 

smack the dash, it will make the temp gauge work. I have the same issue but I think its two problems. (1) the gauge itself is shorting out at the dash, and (2) the CTS or thermostat is bad becuase it over-cools at night. I just want to put it out there that if you replace the CTS or something and the gauge stays dead it might be the gauge itself also.

 

I did that few years ago when mine was not working well, and the odometer/trip meter stopped working. After taking out the cluster to fix the odometer, I made sure that the screws holding the temp gauge are in good contact on the electric strip and the harness made contact too. Still the gauge would still not work properly. So I just ended up swapping the temp/fuel/speedometer/tach from a 94 GXE to my 89. It does look better now