My temperature "randomly" works. The needle will sit at the bottom all of the time and suddenly JUMP up to where it should be and later on, just drop back off like it's not working. WTF? Anyone ever had this problem? I'm clueless as to shy it's doing this? Please Advise!

 

I've heard it's the temperature sending unit thingy in the engine.. dunno how much it is to replace, but I don't figure it would be more than about $20..

if you've got an FSM, it should be pretty easy to look up.

 

seems to me that all the maxima's i've ever seen do this. mine does, and the best way to correct it is get an aftermarket temp gauge. it's way more accurate and while you're at it, why not oil temp, press?

 

ok thanks..I'll look into it when I have time. It's not the most important thing on my mind, but when I have some extra $$$ I'll get them in gauge pods. Thanks!

 

My temp gauge did that too, but so did the gas gauge so I decided to get a new gas and temp gauge since there one unit. The problem turned out to be the receiving units on the back of the gauges decided to stop working, probably just because of age. At the same time I thought since they were gonna have to open the dash anyways why not replace my sticking trip odometer. When it was through the dealer charged me $140 for the gas/temp gauge and $107 for the odometer + $247 in labor. It was worth it though 'cause now I know how much gas I have!

 

Mine didn;t really work for a while either. Try this:

1. Get under you hood and on my VE30DE the temp sensor is about a foot behind the radiator roughly centre. Take the wire off of it. Turn your ignition to 'ON'. Get someone to sit in your car and touch that wire to a good ground. You/they should see the needle go full travel to the 'top' of the scale. If this works, it's not your gauge.

2. Go for a drive. Find a temperature probe somewhere, lots of multimeters have this feature. Touch the lead to the block where the temperature sensor is located, it should read about 180F. If that's right it's not your thermostat (heaven forbid, cause that would be really bad).

3. This tells you your car is operating at the proper temperature, and that the gauge works properly. So you need to replace the temperature sensor. It was $50CDN for me. It simply threads out (do it when your car is cold) and the screw the new one it, hook up the wire, and you're on your way.

I hope that helps you. My temperature sensor was bad and that's how I figured it out.