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Outside Temperature Display Update Time

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16K views 9 replies 7 participants last post by  SciTchr  
#1 ·
Our 2017 Pacifica which is almost 1-yr old has Always taken 10-miles of Continual driving or about 15-min to start Updating the Outside Temperature Display. Once it begins it Updates normally. With our typical short-trips the Temperature rarely works. It does it Every time & regardless of our Phoenix 45 - 115F temperature range.

No Error Codes found & the Dealer wanted to Remove the Entire Front Bumper Cover to Replace the Temp Sensor taking Hours with a potential bad refitting. This was just a drill, as the Sensor reported No issues. I Declined this.

IMO it didn't appear anything was wrong with the sensor more like a Software averaging function that is set far too long. The Software was recently Updated related to the stalling issue, so it's current.

I asked Chyrsler Customer Care to inquire with their Technical staff but just received the "Take to a Dealer" Reply.

Anyone else seeing this ?

Thanks
 
#4 ·
Interesting. What sensor is it getting its information from?
 
#3 ·
My recent Chrysler vans have been very erratic. I had 3 T & C's -- the (2008?) would be almost instant on track, and I think the 2014 would take a long time to update -- dealer response was "that was the design."

My 2017 Pacifica usually is off base at first, and sometimes does take a long time. There was a TSB for "high" temperature readings -- it would 90 degrees when it was 80. I don't remember that
having much affect on response time.

I had two TSB performed back in November -- TSB 08-049-17 and TSB 08-058-17. One (I think the first) was the temperature sensor. The other was the problem with some of the surround cameras "blacking out" when one camera was in the sun and the other in shadow (the system was keying "exposure" from only camera's sensor.)

It is an annoying issue, but I agree that it is not worth dismantling the front of the car. IMO, the slow response is a software issue that they are choosing not to address. While there should be some lag for averaging as the car may be moving in and out of hot spots, the temperature sensors for oil, coolant & transmission seem to have very little lag.
 
#5 ·
I don't know. Maybe the same sensor with the different software algorithm. A manual for one of my previous cars explained that if the sensor detects a starting temperature higher than at the moment of the last reading before the car was parked, the software will attribute the difference to the sun and engine heat while parked. It would wait for 10 minutes of movement to get airflow to the sensor before changing the dashboard reading.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Our 2017 Pacifica which is almost 1-yr old has Always taken 10-miles of Continual driving or about 15-min to start Updating the Outside Temperature Display. Once it begins it Updates normally. With our typical short-trips the Temperature rarely works. It does it Every time & regardless of our Phoenix 45 - 115F temperature range.
No Error Codes found & the Dealer wanted to Remove the Entire Front Bumper Cover to Replace the Temp Sensor taking Hours with a potential bad refitting. This was just a drill, as the Sensor reported No issues. I Declined this.
IMO it didn't appear anything was wrong with the sensor more like a Software averaging function that is set far too long. The Software was recently Updated related to the stalling issue, so it's current.
I asked Chyrsler Customer Care to inquire with their Technical staff but just received the "Take to a Dealer" Reply.

Anyone else seeing this ?
Thanks
Last week my van had the Ambient Air Temperature Sensor replaced which did not entail removing the bumper and now it seems to be working correctly.

Previously at times the outside temperature display seemed stuck at a temperature that was obviously incorrect for a long period of time. The service department found Star Case 1608000133 pertaining to ambient air temperature issues and followed the procedures. (Previously they had tried the software update TSB 08-058-17 that was supposed to correct a 10 degree differential reading.) So there are a couple options that you can suggest.
 
#8 ·
Last week my van had the Ambient Air Temperature Sensor replaced which did not entail removing the bumper and now it seems to be working correctly.
Do you happen to know what they had to remove to get to the sensor? I'd like to get access to it without removing the bumper. I want to see if I can add a resistor in parallel, and keep the engine from coming on for heat in cold weather.
 
#7 ·
It's weird. A thermo-couple (a strip of metal that changes electrical parameters with temperature) always sits at the correct temperature unless it's just not read often or is maybe a low priority in a busy system. That would be weird too though. Any old-timer like me can tell tale of computer-less cars. I had an interim 1992 van with just one main processor unit for EFI mgmt.,... New ones have several CPU/motherboard units... to handle different systems. With all that I wonder how the temp. could be off. Another thread is about gas gauges being off. It could be calibration or something deeper.