Ok heres the problem... Recently the outside temperature reading in the air con screen is gone weird. Its reading 30 deg celcius - 32 deg celcius and sometimes around 22 deg celcius. Its constantly changing. The weather here is on average 0 degress celcius and snowing. Ive noticed that like say when I get in the car in the morning and turn it on, its giving the right temperature, like 2-5 etc but then quickly goes back to 22-32 range. However when I set the temperature on the A/C, it seems to come out normally even when the outside reading is dodgy.

I say this because a while back when I changed the manufacter stereo and took off the plugs for the A/C...once reconnected, the screen was displaying -30 to -40 degrees celcius which is really really low and would turn into ice and the heat coming out of the fans were not right. On high the heat was BURNING and even on 20 deg celcius it felt like it was the heat that comes out on the normal HI setting. But when I drove around the outside temperatue fixed up and the heat output fixed up. Its been working fine since then. So basically the heat output from the fans were somehow going by the outside temp reading.

But now the heat output is working fine but just the outside temp reading gone haywire...! Any ideas..?

 

Odd. Just to be certain... you are not getting a 32 degrees F reading, since that is about 0 degrees C. ?

Maybe try the old disconnect the battery for a half hour trick and see what happens before you get any deeper into this.

 

No it is definetely on the C not the F. If i set it to F it goes way higher. This morning when I came into the car, it displayed -4 degrees which was correct. Then as I was de icing and the AC was heating the windows. I forgot to check exactly when it changed but just after I drove off I noticed it went to 19 degrees C. !!!. Could it be possible that the temperature sensor is facing the engine and the heat is making it go high...or is that or something similar not possible and am I talkin rubbish..? I might try the taking off the battery option, what things will that reset if I disconnect for half an hour..?

 

Is the sensor something that I could see easily from the bonnet for inspection..? and if so what does it look like and where is it..?

 

The temp sensor is clipped behind the splitter on the front bumper, I think on the left side if memory serves. You might take a look at the wires and check that they are not corroded or loose.

If you disconnect the battery you'll have to probably reset the one touch windows and your radio stations.

 

Sorry for not understanding, what is the spltter on the front bumper..? and what does the sensor look like, will i be able to pop my head in or will i have to take things off etc.

 

The temp sensor sits behind the splitter/lower grill on the front bumper, and is secured by the same bolt that holds the Power Steering fluid cooler in place. This is relatively easy to locate it looks like a pipe cleaner on steroids (about 2"-2.5" in diameter).

I can tell you this..... 95% chance it's a bad sensor. When they go bad they start to read in the inverse..... the hotter it gets the colder it reads and in your case the colder it is the hotter it reads.

just replace the sensor and it will be all good.

 

^ what he said.

The "splitter" is the plastic strip that runs horizontally across the middle of the lower grille. Some models it is black, others it is painted body color (the splitter, not the sensor that is). It simply clips into place.


Yes you can see the sensor without having to remove anything.

 

Ive got it so bad in my head that it must have moved or something. Earlier when I came in the car it read 2 deg celcius, (I had driven it about 1 and a half hours ago) then I monitored it and when I started driving it slowly started going up all the way to 22. Maybe its moved or come loose and is sensing the heat from the engine or something..? Because when it was on 2 degrees maybe it started cooling down in there thats why it went to 2 deg when I came in..?

You say its at the bottom gill, so do I have to get the car lifted or can I open the bonnet and access it from the top..

 

Pay no mind to the temp readout at this point, it is obviously wrong and isn't going to fix itself, so just forget about it until you can find the problem.

you don't need to lift the car, no. Sit on a creeper or lie on your side and look through the lower grille. Jacking up the front might help comfort-wise, but not needed.

 

I will definetely have a look, not now though cos its too cold and always snowing

 

 

Ive taken some pictures of the sensor, does that look like its fitted normally, as initially I thought maybe its loose and sensing the heat from elsewhere. Or could it be the case that it has not come off just facing the wrong side, does it have a correct side to it which is maybe facing towards the car as opposed to away from the car. Basically could the sensor need rotating 180 degrees on the nut which its attached to or is it one whole sensor which doesnt have any particular side of it and doesnt matter which side its faced as its one whole sensor as long as its tightened on so it doesn't move around.... if you know what I mean....? And by the way I know the car is due for a wash, just keeps raining so haven't done it yet.

 

This part goes wrong in many jags (common in s and x types). It is a Ford made part and the number is XR858222. I got one for £7.59 from my Jag dealer. It is cheaper on line but not when you include postage.
It is located in front of the radiator and is attached to the power steering fluid radiator, to the right of the car as you look head on.
From the front, use an 8mm socket to remove the single bolt. The bracket also holds the steering radiator level and you will need to pull it off there. Take care not allow the radiator to bend too much.
The sensor looks as if it should be screwed into something and I guess it is also used in other ways. Two clips hold it to the connector and you will need three hands to remove it without breaking one of the clips. I broke one but even so it is well held in with just the one.
Detach the old sensor and slide in the new - it can only go in one way so do not force it.
Reattach the bracket and clip the steering radiator back in position.

 

Thanks bro, funny you post this and I just replaced it last week along with a few other parts. Seems to be fixed now. Forgot to update this post..

 

This is the X Type section, yours is an S type so try the other forum, after youve checked the coolant level.

 

This is a different problem to the one I had, my external temperature reading on the centre dash was giving a wrong reading. Not the actual temperature of the car.

 

I had same peoblem outside temperature indicator showed -32C but real temperature was +25C. So I got a lot of hot air instead of cool air. Could not only put temp to C17 and open windows to cool inside of car. Is only recent problem 2 weeks ago everything was fine

 

I had the same issue, I ended up replacing the Ambient air temp sensor, but it did nothing.


When I recently replaced my battery and cleaned the terminal connectors, it fixed the issue.


I think there are resistance tests you can do on that circuit to determine if you are getting high resistance, or not getting enough voltage.