hey once in a while my coolant temp gauge will shoot up to H and then go down and shoot up again. it happens like once a month or something. the thing is that if its at H and i turn off the car, and turn it on again the temp stays in the middle. am i having thermostat issues or is it the coolant temp sensor acting stupid. i need to know if my car is actually overheating or it thinks it is.

 

My old car (not a Maxima) used to do that and it turned out to be a bad gauge. It's definitely not a thermostat/cooling system issue if the guage just jumps right up, if it gradually reached the hot mark that would be a different issue.

It could possibly be a bad gauge temp sending unit - it is located right in front (when viewed from the front of the car) of the ECTS. You could try change that out and if it still does the same thing, I would say replace the gauge.

 

For a while, maybe about four years ago, my temp gauge used to fluctuate from the middle to the bottom peg in a rapidfire motion. When I mean rapid I mean probably a dozen times every second. It was annoying but I think it was just dirt in the connection on the sending unit, it hasn't done it since then and I never replaced any parts.

 

alright i'll try that and let me u guys know if it works