question regarding water temp sensor

[madness410]

2002 3.8

today starting up my car leaving from work it was at 0 as it always is cold. after driving for about 10 minutes its still at 0 so i just assumed the sensor went.

but my question is...does the cooling system still work properly without that functioning? i only drive about 5 miles from work and i couldnt tell if it was running hot because the gauge wasnt getting a reading.

i plan to fix it as soon as i can..but is it dangerous to drive without that working?

[sweetbmxrider]

Most cars, including yours, use two separate sensors. One is for the computer and the other is for the gauge. The one for the gauge has gone bad obviously but your car will still know the coolant temp and be able to turn the fans on and off. You should replace it as soon as you can though because you could spring a leak and overheat the car (it can only cool itself so much)

[madness410]

so by one of the sensors being broken the cooling system is less effective? or are you just saying that since i dont know the actual temp it can overheat if there is a leak..? thanks for the help by the way man

[FlyingDutchman]

Originally Posted by madness410

so by one of the sensors being broken the cooling system is less effective? or are you just saying that since i dont know the actual temp it can overheat if there is a leak..? thanks for the help by the way man

I think what he meant is that the sensor that feeds the gauge information has bit the dust. I would say this sensor doesn't affect cooling as it only spins the gauge. You should fix it though because if your radiator springs a leak, you won't realize it until it is too late.

The other sensor he is referring to tells the computer what the temperature is so it knows when to kick on the fans. If this sensor goes bad, then you risk overheating because the computer won't turn on the fans to cool it down.

[madness410]

i see. thanks for the info guys..very helpful

[sweetbmxrider]

Yeah, that explanation was better