Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Temp reading "N" usually at R-L!!!!!

After doing some serious miles on the car I noticed that when I left florida, the temp would not go beyond N in normal! Usually it is at R-L! Will I have a problem with my last 1870kms left to drive back to Canada or can I just forget it until I get back and have it looked at? Thanks in advance!!!! :rolleyes:

I'm seeing exactly the same thing. My E0 has 37k miles on it. I recently flushed/filled my radiator and changed the thermostat, but the gauge still won't rise above "N" or "O".

I suggest turning on the heat every so often to ensure your water pump is at least semi-functional, and make sure your coolant level is OK. If you change your sensor and start getting more mid-range readings, let me know!!!

This is quite a normal thing. Unfortunately it is a bad sign. Normally about 4-6 monthjs after the temp starts to read low then the water pump goes and its meltdown time

Take a look at My Mondeo web site
under Information and then go to know problems for details

Check out your water pump, thermostat and temp sender unit before its too loate

Sorry to be the bringer of bad news

Keep an eye on the gauge. When the Water pump fails it will be quick and deadly.

Rob

If water pump was the problem, then would it not cause tempt to go up? Why would car run cooler? Thanks in advance!!!

I see no direct correlation between low temp. gauge readings and impending water pump failure. Don't get me wrong, Mr. Mole... It's clear our water pumps are ticking time bombs, but I have trouble seeing a causal link.

Methinks that given the high incidence of impeller failure, it behooves all of us to keep an eye on the gauge and, when in doubt, turn the heater on as a quick test of coolant circulation.

My big concern is this... If my temperature sender is flaky in the manner we're discussing, is it capable of registering higher temps consistent with WP failure and overheat? Are crank and I flying blind here? I guess I could ground the sensor wire and see if it registers full hot. Simply unplugging the sensor causes the temp. gauge to remain pegged low.

If it works anything like the temp sensor in my '88 Mustang GT, it does peg full hot when you ground it.

So this would imply that corrosion on the connector would cause the sensor to read lower than it normally would.

WTF?! I freak out when I see my temperature guage shows anything above R in NORMAL!!!

Then I suspect you suffer from high blood pressure! The water temp. should, by all rights, go up in certain situations, such as after coming to a dead stop following hard driving. If need be, your car's computer will kick the fan on high speed to increase airflow over the radiator. Yoostabee, my fan would kick in when the gauge got to about A, then sure enough the temperature would go back down.

I would guess that differences in calibration between the two temperature senders means that some vehicles will never have the dashboard temp. gauge go above 50%, while others might flirt with "L" regularly. I'm just worried that the behavior of my temp. gauge has suddenly changed. So far, though, no evidence of ill effects.

See the tail end of http://contour.org/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=3&t=002894 .

All better now! I'm guessing it was merely sensor drift, but I only paid ~$20 for the part and "bonded" some more with my car in the process.