I have a temperature gauge that is intermittently jumpy . My Maxima has been parked for a long time but as I recall, it did this before being parked so that's not a factor. I notice that it will spike a little bit or more commonly drop to zero momentarily and flutter and then jump back up to show the temp. It tends to do this when I accelerate hard. My first guess is that the sensor or the wiring to it may be loose. Has anyone else had this issue, and if so how did you address it?

Does anyone have a photo of exactly where the coolant temperature sensor is located on our cars? Thanks.

 

It's not the CTS that you are looking for it's the thermal sensor. The CTS has 2-3 wires while the thermal sensor only uses one. The thermal sensor is right in front of the CTS when you are looking at the engine it is on the right hand side where the coolant runs from the engine to the radiator. This sensor builds up corrosion on the contact, just needs a little cleaning.

 

It was corroded and dirty like a ****, maybe a little bit loose too. I took it off and cleaned it well and stuck it back on. I'll drive it tomorrow and see if that corrected the problem. Thanks for the help.