Outside Temperature sensor

[MUFF]

I have a 2023 Gladiator that I purchased with 1,300 miles on it. I now have slightly over 6,500 miles on it.

I had a new Western Plow installed by my local dealer so that I can plow my ¼ mile driveway. When I drove the truck home yesterday, I noticed that the outside temperature was registering around 110 degrees Fahrenheit when the outside temperature was actually around 60 degrees. The outside temperature reading would fluctuate about 25 degrees between 90 and 115. My temperature gauge was running in the normal range. I think that the electric cooling fan may have been running a little more than it has in the past, but I am not sure.

When I dropped the plow at home and drove the truck, the outside temp. reading was more like it actually was outside.

It seemed odd to me that the plow would block enough air flow to cause that much of a heat build up to make the outside temperature register that high. My Gladiator is completely stock (no modifications other than the plow system).

Has anyone else experienced this?

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[LouisvEarlleJT]

My guess is that the sensor is somewhere behind the grill and the plow blocked the the perfect spot where it needed air flow such that it was reading the ambient temperature of the engine compartment.

 

[ALT2870]

If you search around you'll find this is an extremely common issue. People have reported not even being able to use the heater.

 

[MUFF]

I guess I will see if I have the heater issue this winter.

 

[MUFF]

My guess is that the sensor is somewhere behind the grill and the plow blocked the the perfect spot where it needed air flow such that it was reading the ambient temperature of the engine compartment.

I am also thinking that the sensor is in an area that the plow is blocking the air flow. It just seemed odd that it would build that much heat.

 

[Mr._Bill]

@ShadowsPapa has reported on this. The blade causes a low pressure area that pulls heat out of the engine bay and raises the temperature reading.

 

[LouisvEarlleJT]

I am also thinking that the sensor is in an area that the plow is blocking the air flow. It just seemed odd that it would build that much heat.

According to Google it’s located in front of the radiator so it’s probably just blocked and then picking up the heat off the radiator.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I have posted in great detail on this exact thing - and included pictures of the sensor. It's on the driver side, toward the top and can be seen through the grill slot.

It's more than blocking flow - it's causing low pressure and pulling engine bay air forward. In my case, I have seen the display show outside temperatures of 101 degrees. The HVAC heat will not work - not in auto mode or manually choosing heat and turning it up high. It might help, but my wife still complains of cold air when with me if the plow is on.
I've tried the plow in all different angles. Of course safe and recommended is straight, but I've tried it lowered a bit, angled left, angled right, and everything in between. No joy.
I'm going to contact the JSCAN folks and see if they can force the fan to high speed using JSCAN otherwise my only solution would be to move that sensor or use Tazer to force the fan to high.
The engine will run hot, too, showing it's not just "blocking air" - I've had real outside temperatures of 0 to 10 above with engine temps of 225 to 230. Normally mine won't even come close to that when towing in hills!

I'm heading out for our Tuesday morning street rod coffee group in a few minutes but will try to post pictures of the sensor location and so on after that.

I'm running a Western plow, 72" I think it is, on my 2022 Overland. This will be the 3rd winter with it. I've gotten to the point where I just drop the plow off when done plowing, but if I can find a solution, I'd rather leave it on as we can have a snow, 2 days of nice, then another snow, then a week of nice, then another snow. That's a lot of on and off for a 67 year old with bad back and essential tremors.

More later........

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Sensor -

It was somewhere between 0 and 10 degrees out, snow on the ground, yet the temperature sensor said it was 99 - I just missed catching it at 101 because when I slowed to a stop, the temp reading dropped a bit due to the lack of the plow causing low pressure at very low speeds or at a stop.
My wife doesn't like the seat heat much so rarely turns it on and she generally has the heater set to 70 or below. In this case, she turned on the heated seats and kept cranking the heat up - didn't help much ->

 

[MUFF]

I have posted in great detail on this exact thing - and included pictures of the sensor. It's on the driver side, toward the top and can be seen through the grill slot.

It's more than blocking flow - it's causing low pressure and pulling engine bay air forward. In my case, I have seen the display show outside temperatures of 101 degrees. The HVAC heat will not work - not in auto mode or manually choosing heat and turning it up high. It might help, but my wife still complains of cold air when with me if the plow is on.
I've tried the plow in all different angles. Of course safe and recommended is straight, but I've tried it lowered a bit, angled left, angled right, and everything in between. No joy.
I'm going to contact the JSCAN folks and see if they can force the fan to high speed using JSCAN otherwise my only solution would be to move that sensor or use Tazer to force the fan to high.
The engine will run hot, too, showing it's not just "blocking air" - I've had real outside temperatures of 0 to 10 above with engine temps of 225 to 230. Normally mine won't even come close to that when towing in hills!

I'm heading out for our Tuesday morning street rod coffee group in a few minutes but will try to post pictures of the sensor location and so on after that.

I'm running a Western plow, 72" I think it is, on my 2022 Overland. This will be the 3rd winter with it. I've gotten to the point where I just drop the plow off when done plowing, but if I can find a solution, I'd rather leave it on as we can have a snow, 2 days of nice, then another snow, then a week of nice, then another snow. That's a lot of on and off for a 67 year old with bad back and essential tremors.

More later........

Thanks. I wanted to make sure it wasn't something with just my Jeep. I guess it is an ongoing problem. Mine is a 2023 Overland and I have the 7'2" plow. I had an '08 and a '17 Wrangler with the same plow and never experienced this so it was a surprise to see it showing that high of a temp.

 

[MUFF]

Sensor -

It was somewhere between 0 and 10 degrees out, snow on the ground, yet the temperature sensor said it was 99 - I just missed catching it at 101 because when I slowed to a stop, the temp reading dropped a bit due to the lack of the plow causing low pressure at very low speeds or at a stop.
My wife doesn't like the seat heat much so rarely turns it on and she generally has the heater set to 70 or below. In this case, she turned on the heated seats and kept cranking the heat up - didn't help much ->

Thanks for the info. I will check with my service guy the next time I have to go to him and see if there would be an issue with Warranty if I move the sensor. I usually drop my plow after I am done plowing each time, unless we are going to have several storms in rapid succession. I only plow my 1/4 mile driveway and a little for my mother and brother who live 4 miles away. I don't like driving around with the plow attached so I guess if I don't move the sensor, I can stand being a little cold (if the heat won't work) until I am done plowing.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Thanks for the info. I will check with my service guy the next time I have to go to him and see if there would be an issue with Warranty if I move the sensor. I usually drop my plow after I am done plowing each time, unless we are going to have several storms in rapid succession. I only plow my 1/4 mile driveway and a little for my mother and brother who live 4 miles away. I don't like driving around with the plow attached so I guess if I don't move the sensor, I can stand being a little cold (if the heat won't work) until I am done plowing.

The service advisor said I could move the sensor if I wanted..... that would resolve HVAC issues, but not engine cooling.
Like me - I will drive with the plow on if there's more snow in the next couple of days or so, but prefer to drop it off otherwise.
Sounds like we have the same setup, same situation.
Nice thing is that when you are plowing and driving or moving slow - it'll melt you out of the cabin - it's just on the road it's an issue. I actually have to shed my coat if plowing very long.

 

[PBCounty]

Oh...was kind of wondering where that thing was (since most vehicles seem to have them in the side view mirrors as I understand it).

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Oh...was kind of wondering where that thing was (since most vehicles seem to have them in the side view mirrors as I understand it).

I'd think in the mirrors would be a lot better, but then you'd add to the wiring and connectors for doors that come off - meaning you'd have more to go wrong, and no outside temp reading at all, which the HVAC system relies on.

 

[MUFF]

The service advisor said I could move the sensor if I wanted..... that would resolve HVAC issues, but not engine cooling.
Like me - I will drive with the plow on if there's more snow in the next couple of days or so, but prefer to drop it off otherwise.
Sounds like we have the same setup, same situation.
Nice thing is that when you are plowing and driving or moving slow - it'll melt you out of the cabin - it's just on the road it's an issue. I actually have to shed my coat if plowing very long.

Yea, sounds like we have the same set-up. This is my first Gladiator and I never had that happen with my Wranglers.

If it isn't a problem other than driving on the road, I only go about 4 miles to do my mother and brother, so I can stand it that long. I was afraid that I would be freezing all the while I was plowing. I start out from a heated garage, so it would take a little while to cool down but that doesn't seem to be an issue if it will give enough heat when plowing.

I would hope that it is cold enough that it would not overheat when plowing. I will let it go for now and see how it works this winter. Thanks for all the info.

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