First and foremost, I should disclose that my check engine light turned on on Thursday, so I need to get the 'rolla in for service anyway, and it may or may not be related, but I was wondering if anyone had run into this before:
It was a crisp 40 degrees this morning, and my car has been staying outside while moving boxes occupy our garage. The 'rolla started up fine, and I let it warm up while I walked garbage cans to the curb, tied my tie, and made sure I had a lunch and gym clothes. All good.
Generally my temp gauge is starting to rise right about the time I get onto the highway. Today, it never made it more than a quarter of the way up the gauge. Never. I have a 40 mile commute, so there is definitely adequate time for the engine to get hot even in 40 degree weather. The heater was putting out warm air, but the engine temp gauge never budged on the highway. It did rise a LITTLE when I got off the highway, but it was nowhere near halfway up the gauge like it has been in the past.
I can't tell if there is something wrong with the engine (no performance issues), or if it's a problem with the temp sensor, or the thermostat.
I'll ask the service techs to look into it unless someone here has experienced this before ...I just don't want to spend $200 to have them tell me it's a bad sensor that really only controls the gauge, and isn't essential to the car's operation. I'm at 121k miles, and while I want to get 200+ out of this car, I'm not in the mood to throw hundreds of dollars at it if it's not an essential fix.
It was a crisp 40 degrees this morning, and my car has been staying outside while moving boxes occupy our garage. The 'rolla started up fine, and I let it warm up while I walked garbage cans to the curb, tied my tie, and made sure I had a lunch and gym clothes. All good.
Generally my temp gauge is starting to rise right about the time I get onto the highway. Today, it never made it more than a quarter of the way up the gauge. Never. I have a 40 mile commute, so there is definitely adequate time for the engine to get hot even in 40 degree weather. The heater was putting out warm air, but the engine temp gauge never budged on the highway. It did rise a LITTLE when I got off the highway, but it was nowhere near halfway up the gauge like it has been in the past.
I can't tell if there is something wrong with the engine (no performance issues), or if it's a problem with the temp sensor, or the thermostat.
I'll ask the service techs to look into it unless someone here has experienced this before ...I just don't want to spend $200 to have them tell me it's a bad sensor that really only controls the gauge, and isn't essential to the car's operation. I'm at 121k miles, and while I want to get 200+ out of this car, I'm not in the mood to throw hundreds of dollars at it if it's not an essential fix.
