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Outside Temp reading too high

30K views 71 replies 32 participants last post by  bradly1101 
#1 ·
My outside temperature reads 8 degrees too high consistently. I am dropping the van off at the dealer this morning to fix another issue and will be pushing for a resolution on this as well. When speaking to them on the phone, they stated that this is normal due to the temperature being an estimate. Does anyone else feel that their's is inaccurate?
 
#2 ·
I — for one — have never put any faith in the outside temperature readings of any vehicle I have ever owned. Heck, just driving around sub-urban areas that have banks/businesses that have temperature readings in their signage can show VASTLY different interpretations of the "current temperature". I usually assume the following:

- Do not even CONSIDER looking at the in-dash-outdoor temperature within the first 10-minutes of driving your car. It will most SURELY "normalize" to a MORE-accurate (not accurate) reading by that time.
- Assume that your particular vehicle will have a propensity to be "off" plus-or-minus by a particular amount consistently.
- Assume that given that offset tendency, there's also probably going to be a 5° F margin of error even AFTER waiting for it to normalize after 10-min.

To me... it's like using a sun dial to set a precise baking time of 8 and 1/2 minutes. :)

Maybe I am too cynical, but I have never trusted "outdoor temp" mechanisms in any vehicle to be accurate.
{ shrug } :)
 
#3 ·
I mentioned this very issue a while back. Sometimes ours seem to be close, other times it can look like it's a good 10 degrees too high. I don't think I want to spend the time bringing it in just for that, but I sure would like it to work right...
 
#4 · (Edited)
I couldn't agree more with
PacificaLimited
If you bring it in for an 8 degree difference they will likely just give you a long "cow stare" and then eventually say something like "8 degrees compared to what?". I've been there! You could locate the Pacifica sensor (likely somewhere near the front grill) and then place a couple good thermometers around it to prove the Pacifica sensor is off. I haven't found any place in Uconnect to adjust the temperature...not even on the "Engineering screen".



- your sensor probably melted. I liked your de-icer comment the other day where you said windshield wipers get so hot where you live that they melt and stick to the windshield.
 
#5 ·
...
- your sensor probably melted. I liked your de-icer comment the other day where you said windshield wipers get so hot where you live that they melt and stick to the windshield.
Yeah, our biggest fear is that the door seal rubber will melt and one day we won't be able to get in... or out...:D

I was here back when it got up to 122 in the Phoenix area and the blacktop in our business parking lot was kind of soft as you walked on it. Glad my tires didn't melt to the blacktop, or I'd never been able to go home that day.:rolleyes:
 
#6 ·
out door temp sensor

Mine isnt very accurate either but on different cars they have never been really good either. If mine says its 100 out I know its hot or 10 below I know its cold out how precise it is I really dont know.You can have 10 different thermometers and they probably will all read different.
 
#7 ·
The outside temperature gauge is kind of like the radio, you really don't need either one to get to where you're going, but these are features that you've paid for and want them to work right. I've had outside temp monitoring on at least the last five vehicles that we've owned, and they've all been in one or two degrees of what it says on those small billboards outside of businesses. Our Pacifica is sometimes within a few degrees, but the hotter it is, the worse it is. Yesterday it was reading 106 and temps never got above the mid-90's. The sensor is in all likelihood a veristor, (it's electrical resistance varies with temperature) and a poor connection can add resistance and change the reading, especially when it seems to be OK for a while, then it goes off by 10 degrees. I've looked, but I cannot find the sensor.
 
#8 ·
I agree. When you have a vehicle that is stickered over $50k, kinda expect the extra options to work. Especially when I traded in a base model 08'Dodge Nitro with an accurate gauge. The explanation I got was that it was the "feel like" temp.
 
#9 ·
So, this morning I realized a real-world impact on having the vehicle know a semi-accurate reading of the outside temp.

This morning, around 4:15 am before leaving for work, I looked on my computer's weather widget which showed it was down to 37-degrees... checked on my phone as well which uses Yahoo... same thing... 37-degrees.

So I grabbed my key-fob and remote started the Pacifica.
I recall reading that if the temperature was below 40-degrees, it would automatically engage the heated steering wheel (if enabled in Uconnect, which it is for me). I get out to my car 5-10 minutes later... heated steering wheel NOT on.

I press the button to bring the instrument cluster to life and as the Uconnect screen boots-up, it shows the outside temp as 43-degrees. That's 6-degrees warmer, but more importantly, it might need to get as cold as 33-degrees for my car to think it's 39-degrees and enable the heated steering wheel. THAT would be a REAL pain in the backside.
 
#10 ·
Can you change the setting for when the heated stearing wheel comes on? In Houston, the heated stearing wheel does not come into play.
 
#14 ·
This morning it was 64 by the outside temp reading on my Pacifica. I have no idea if that was realistically close or not, but for us it was a bit chilly since a few weeks ago, it was in the 90's this early in the morning. Anyway, I turned on the driver side seat heater and it showed as being on hi and it did start to feel warm. I did the same with the passenger side, and my wife said it was warming up. When we stopped, I left them on to see what would happen, and sure enough, they were turned off when we started up again. That's good, since that's what all my other vehicles that had heated seats did and I don't mind turning them back on if I need to. So, the outside temp reading has no bearing on whether the seat heaters go on or not, for us that's good since it rarely gets below 40 degrees, maybe a half-dozen times in the winter, but anything under 60 degrees is getting cold around here.
 
#15 ·
So, the outside temp reading has no bearing on whether the seat heaters go on or not
That's not entirely true. Auto wheel heating and seat heat/venting is an option that can be enabled or disabled through the Uconnect menu. If it's enabled, it will absolutely rely on the outside temp.
 
#18 ·
Any update?

Is it the consensus of the group that the higher outside temperature reading is an annoying "feature" or has anyone figured out a workaround? My thermometer consistently reads 5-6 degrees too high.
 
#19 ·
Is it the consensus of the group that the higher outside temperature reading is an annoying "feature" or has anyone figured out a workaround? My thermometer consistently reads 5-6 degrees too high.
No workaround, it is annoying enough though to know that it's around 105 outside according to the weather service, yet your seeing a reading of 115. I don't know how much ours is off at lower temps yet, but it seems that the hotter it is, the more error in the reading.
 
#20 ·
Mine seems to be very accurate. But if it's only hot temps that throw it off, I won't know for many months.
 
#21 ·
Granted, it's not nearly as cold now in NJ as VT but we have hit low 30's this fall and my temp gauge consistently reads 5-6 degrees higher. :frown2:
 
#23 ·
To all those reporting that their temperature readings are CONSISTENTLY X degrees too high, just know that those of us with inconsistent readings are highly jealous. :wink2:
 
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#24 ·
One thing to note that no one has so far. If you have your inside climate control set to auto, the outside temp reading does impact the inside climate control. It will account for the different in outside temp and desired inside temp and adjust accordingly. Already took the Pacifica in once to the dealer and they replaced the sensor. Still 6+ degrees higher. This is more than an annoyance.
 
#25 ·
If you have your inside climate control set to auto, the outside temp reading does impact the inside climate control.
It will also impact the temp at which your heated steering wheel and heated/cooled seats will turn on.
 
#28 ·
Can someone from ChryslerCares check to see if there is a TSB or other resolution for this problem? Are other owners (outside this forum) reporting this issue?

airwalker82 stated above that his dealer replaced the sensor to no avail.

Any update would be greatly appreciated....
 
#29 ·
Hi Inga,

I've sent an inquiry and will let you know what I find out.

Kori
Chrysler Social Care Specialist
 
#31 · (Edited)
I noticed this a few weeks ago and sent this to Matt at FCA who in turn said he sent that on the engineers and would get back to me. All my other Chrysler van were spot on after about 5 min.

" Confirmed with engineering and software updates are in the works for both issues but unfortunately they are not quite ready to release to the dealers. I will let you know when they are and you can let the forum know to visit the dealer. Thanks for the heads up and patience.

Have a great night.
Matt "
 
#35 ·
My Pacifica is at the dealer and 2 area reps have been to the dealer as Chrysler ordered a rep to go and now they are wanting to have a meeting with me and the reps as well as the service manager. They are looking at the temp issue, the easy exit seat issue and the driver window issue where it rolls up 1/8th of the way then stops.
 
#36 ·
Here is the info:

Easy Exit seat issue: Oct.7
The drivers seat "easy exit" feature, will slide all the way back as normal when you turn the van off, but 50% of the time after it slides back, it then will go right back to the initial position.
Matt stated to take to the dealer and just have the dealer reference the two numbers below to perform the update.
(The fix)
FSAR-58604
SVCFLSH-5531
 
#37 ·
I'm curious if the colour of the paint amplifies the amount the sensor is off. Will a white paint van vary less than the black paint version. It certainly affects the interior. If it is like those steel slides at the park that sit in the sun all day and kids slide down with burns because the metal is over 40C (100F).


I've seen it with where the gauge will change rapidly when the ambient moisture value changes. Such as driving into a fog. One winter the Mother By Law and I were driving home and went down through a dip for a creek. The temp dropped past the -45C (-49F) range. Even further but I can't remember the final number that is its bottom end limit but it does have one. The coldest I've started a car was around -42C. Foam seats were like wood.
 
#38 ·
I also have a problem with my temp gauge, it's consistently 6-8 degrees off. Asked the dealer about it because my car is in the shop and he said "that's just how they are". Not the best response, but I didn't argue because it's not a huge deal for me. It would be nice if they did get a fix for it.
 
#40 ·
Just curious if they ever figured out a fix for the discrepancy in the temp reading and the actual outside temp? Still a ways off from my first oil change, but if they have a solution would like to have it corrected at that time.
 
#41 ·
I was going to give Chrysler till March first on this issue and then really start getting loud. The answer is no, they have not come back with the info yet.
 
#42 ·
Chryslercares did say that Chrysler is aware of the issue, but had no timeline to correct it. From my observation, the hotter it is out, the wider the error. It may be off by four or five degrees at 50, but around 10 degrees when it's over 100, which is most every day of our summer here. I have no way of plotting the curve or using a reference, I'm just going by what they say the temps were for that day.
 
#43 ·
Anything new on the Chrysler software update?

As the weather has warmed up, my temperature shows greater errors, ranging from 10 to 15 degrees. Often, the outside temperature reading keeps rising even as I drive in the evening and even thought the outside temperature is stable or dropping. The discrepancy is at least 10 degrees too high. A couple of times the temperature reading has jumped into the mid-80s even though the outside temperature was in the mid-60s.

I will call the dealer to see if they have any information. But their past track record on other issues doesn't give me much confidence that they will know what to do.
 
#47 ·
Ambient Air Temperature too high

We have had our Pacifica for almost a year. The only thing on the car that does not work right is the ambient air temperature. In the summer, it reads at least 10 degrees too high. The dealer says we just have to live with it. I imagine the sensor is located in a poorly ventilated spot. I would move it if I could find it. We have had several Chrysler minivans that all had very accurate air temp readings. It seems that it only happens in the summer - maybe it just gives the "feel like" temp.
 
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