[ezdays]

At one point I was beginning to wonder if our outside temp sensor was reading too high. I've seen short-time readings of 120 when driving and I questioned that, and when we got in yesterday afternoon, it showed that it was 124 out. Of course, our vehicle was sitting in the direct sun all day, and I'm not sure where the sensor is, but after driving a bit, it did drop down to 117-118. I still thought that was too high until I saw the temperature map on the TV news. Our area showed up at 116, so I guess our readings are a bit more accurate than I thought.

 

[Boss2oo8]

Ummm that's freaking hot. I've noticed mine is always the close to what Google claims it to bea

 

[PacificCoast]

It fluctuates depending on where your car is sitting and what it's doing. Temp will go down a bit when you're moving because of the moving air and the numbers will scare you a bit if the Pacifica has been sitting outside in the sun without moving. I think I remember someone's temp sensor showing a few degrees difference when they parked in the shade vs the sun.

 

[ezdays]

It fluctuates depending on where your car is sitting and what it's doing. Temp will go down a bit when you're moving because of the moving air and the numbers will scare you a bit if the Pacifica has been sitting outside in the sun without moving. I think I remember someone's temp sensor showing a few degrees difference when they parked in the shade vs the sun.

That's true, around here, you learn not to touch metal that's been sitting in the sun for a while, that includes any part of a vehicle, outside or in. Inside temps can get well over 150 within a short time as well. I think that all official temp readings are done in the shade and so you are right, a moving vehicle will show a lower temp than one sitting in the sun. One other thing you learn around here is not to touch water that has been sitting in a hose laying outside, it will indeed scald you if you don't wait until it runs for a while.

 

[ezdays]

Still a bit skeptical about the accuracy of our temp sensor. Got readings of 111 and up to 114 while driving around town for awhile, but the official temp was only 106. I know, the official weather station for our town is a good five miles to the north, but that's still a big difference.

My question is, does anyone know where the outside temp sensor is located? I suppose that it's somewhere behind the grill. I'd like to place a digital thermometer next to it just to compare readings.

 

[ezdays]

Sheesh, I looked and there's no way of finding that sensor even if you knew where to look. I've never seen an engine compartment that tight and can't see if there's anything in front of the radiator. I'm getting too old to crawl under the vehicle to see if it's underneath so I'm just going to have to accept the readings I'm getting....

 

[airwalker82]

I have also been questioning the outside temp sensor. It typically reads 6 or more degrees higher than what weather websites show as the temp. I took it in to the dealer and they found the sensor was bad and replaced it, but still getting the higher readings.

 

[Randytj]

Mine always reads 2 - 4 degrees too high...............

 

[ezdays]

Ours does not have a consistent error. It's fairly close the colder it is outside, but the error gets larger and larger the hotter it gets. We used to build temperature monitoring systems for grocery stores and we had to plot the curve of the thermistor in the microprocessor, otherwise we could get inaccurate readings on one end or the other, just like ours seems to be on our Pacifica. All thermistors are not alike, so if you change manufactures or types, you need to redo the plot in the computer. Could this be what's going on?

 

[jmarc23]

Outside temperature gauge broken/not working

I know this is a little late to respond to the OP, but I've had my Pacifica for a month now, and it is consistently 10 degrees above normal. Haven't had the time or energy to take it in, but will point it out when I take it in for its checkup.

 

[rkalla]

Adding to this thread, we got in ours today, it was 84 outside and car read 109 for the entire 20 min ride... but the ac sensor seemed to be accurate insomuch that setting auto and desired temp, the appropriate fan speed and air coolness was used assuming the temp was in fact 84 outside... computer gave us mild cooling down to 75 instead of max full everything had it thought it was really 109.

 

[Miroline]

I know this is a little late to respond to the OP, but I've had my Pacifica for a month now, and it is consistently 10 degrees above normal. Haven't had the time or energy to take it in, but will point it out when I take it in for its checkup.

I have the same issue where the temp is off by 5 degrees, car is only a few weeks old

 

[ezdays]

There is another thread that was started after this one that has a bit of later info. Chryslercares says that there is an upcoming tech bulletin that covers this, but it's not been released yet. Ours seems close to being correct at around 40, but is high by around 10 degrees at 100 or higher. I would plot the error, but that's really Chrysler engineering's job, plus I don't have a reliable reference to go against. I'm just using the general weather reports for our area...

 

[Swimmer]

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.

 

[ChryslerCares]

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.

Hi Swimmer,

As @ezdays said above our engineering team is working on a software update that will correct this issue. Once it is available we will be sure to let everyone know!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

 

[ChryslerCares]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your patience, a TSB was released over the weekend to fix this issue:

"NUMBER: 08-058-17
GROUP: 08 - Electrical
DATE: July 15, 2017

SUBJECT:
Flash: BCM Diagnostic and System Improvements

SYMPTOM/CONDITION:
A customer may describe a higher ambient temperature (up to +12° C (10° F)) being displayed in the cluster and radio than the actual ambient temperature outside the vehicle. This condition can be noticed during normal driving conditions, stop and go driving conditions (the most apparent) and also after an engine cold soak."

Your local dealership will be able to apply this update to your vehicle and assist you further. Please feel free to PM our page with any additional questions!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

 

[manoli]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your patience, a TSB was released over the weekend to fix this issue:

"NUMBER: 08-058-17
GROUP: 08 - Electrical
DATE: July 15, 2017

SUBJECT:
Flash: BCM Diagnostic and System Improvements

SYMPTOM/CONDITION:
A customer may describe a higher ambient temperature (up to +12° C (10° F)) being displayed in the cluster and radio than the actual ambient temperature outside the vehicle. This condition can be noticed during normal driving conditions, stop and go driving conditions (the most apparent) and also after an engine cold soak."

Your local dealership will be able to apply this update to your vehicle and assist you further. Please feel free to PM our page with any additional questions!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

Andrea,

Will new vehicles manufactured after July 15th automatically have this fix applied?

 

[cue003]

New vehicles and vehicles on dealer lots are supposed to have all TSBs applied before delivery to owner.

 

[ChryslerCares]

Andrea,

Will new vehicles manufactured after July 15th automatically have this fix applied?

Hi manoli,

This TSB applies to vehicles built on or before March 10, 2017 equipped with an Outside Temp Display in Odometer. So any vehicle built after this date has already had the fix applied at the factory. As always, if you would like us to check if the TSB applies to your vehicle please PM our page with your VIN and let us know!

Andrea
Chrysler Social Care Specialist

 

[wsp]

I am having a different set of problems with outside temperature. I am getting a constant reading of 82 when the outside temperature is close to 100. This reading of 82 does not change as long as the vehicle is powered. I have a 2017 Pacifica Hybrid.

Scott