Hello everyone!
I've recently bought a 2003 Prado with a VVTI 4.0L engine. It's running fine with the exception of the temperature gauge that doesn't work 1/4 of the time. Let me explain this and what I've noticed.
Sometimes, the needle of the temperature gauge stays at the very bottom, as if the car wasn't started. I first thought that this was happening only when starting the car too quickly but it's not the case. Once the temperature gauge works, it won't ever stop working while I'm driving. It either works from the moment I start the car until I shut the engine off or it doesn't. Whether the gauge will work or not seems to be completely random. So far I haven't been able to correlate this with the duration of the previous drive, the way I start the car or anything else I've tried giving a small hit in the dashboard to rule out the needle being physically stuck, which didn't change anything.
I've found some similar issues on internet. Unfortunately, some of the jargon used here was not clear to me so I am trying to have some explanations with simple words.
From my understanding, it's unlikely that the needle would be stuck. Possible causes of this issue would be:
- a faulty wire somewhere
- a faulty coolant temperature sensor (is it the same thing as the temperature sending unit? or are those 2 different things?)
- a dry joint on the electronic board (which would explain the randomness of the issue)
I am now trying to rule out some of the possibilities, but it would be nice to have some more guidance here on what I can test. I have a multimeter. I've been able to locate the sensor, behind the engine, thanks to another post on this forum. However, I couldn't understand how I would possibly reach the cable and disconnect it.
One important thing I have noticed is that sometimes, randomly, right after turning the key (without starting the engine), all the needles are slightly shaking for 2-3 seconds and then stabilise. Not sure if this would have anything to do with that, but it's probably worth mentioning it.
Does anyone have an idea on what's going on here?
Thanks for your help.
I've recently bought a 2003 Prado with a VVTI 4.0L engine. It's running fine with the exception of the temperature gauge that doesn't work 1/4 of the time. Let me explain this and what I've noticed.
Sometimes, the needle of the temperature gauge stays at the very bottom, as if the car wasn't started. I first thought that this was happening only when starting the car too quickly but it's not the case. Once the temperature gauge works, it won't ever stop working while I'm driving. It either works from the moment I start the car until I shut the engine off or it doesn't. Whether the gauge will work or not seems to be completely random. So far I haven't been able to correlate this with the duration of the previous drive, the way I start the car or anything else I've tried giving a small hit in the dashboard to rule out the needle being physically stuck, which didn't change anything.
I've found some similar issues on internet. Unfortunately, some of the jargon used here was not clear to me so I am trying to have some explanations with simple words.
From my understanding, it's unlikely that the needle would be stuck. Possible causes of this issue would be:
- a faulty wire somewhere
- a faulty coolant temperature sensor (is it the same thing as the temperature sending unit? or are those 2 different things?)
- a dry joint on the electronic board (which would explain the randomness of the issue)
I am now trying to rule out some of the possibilities, but it would be nice to have some more guidance here on what I can test. I have a multimeter. I've been able to locate the sensor, behind the engine, thanks to another post on this forum. However, I couldn't understand how I would possibly reach the cable and disconnect it.
One important thing I have noticed is that sometimes, randomly, right after turning the key (without starting the engine), all the needles are slightly shaking for 2-3 seconds and then stabilise. Not sure if this would have anything to do with that, but it's probably worth mentioning it.
Does anyone have an idea on what's going on here?
Thanks for your help.
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