Ambient temp inaccuracy

[OldMarine]

Thanks. I sort of hate just hiding the issue with resetting the sensor if there’s a fault there, but I’m only 3700mi in to ownership so have a lot of warranty left.

More than anything, I hate going to the dealer more than necessary. This one is sort of aggregating since it automatically starts my ventilated seats, even tho it was 35deg out this morning. Stupid complaint, but just involves more button clicks that shouldn’t need to occur. Haha

I hear you. You can go into your settings though and turn off the remote start climate actions if you want. That should help for now. It really was quite easy to do the sensor reset though. Took like 5 minutes. If you search the threads here you will find the original post that shows step by step instructions. Good luck sir!

 

[Eltaco]

I hear you. You can go into your settings though and turn off the remote start climate actions if you want. That should help for now. It really was quite easy to do the sensor reset though. Took like 5 minutes. If you search the threads here you will find the original post that shows step by step instructions. Good luck sir!

Thanks for the help!

I pulled the battery terminal and reset the sensor last night. Unfortunately, that didn’t resolve my issue, so looks like I’m headed to the dealer to get a new one. Mine is off by 40-50F, so definitely would love to get it resolved.

As a side note, disconnecting the battery stinks! Didn’t realize I’d lose all of my Uconnect settings and have to wait overnight to recover them. Even then, there were some things I had to go back in and modify.

 

[OldMarine]

there is no need to disconnect battery for this ambient temp reset. Just pull the sensor out of the mirror housing, unplug it for a minute or so, then reinstall.

 

[Eltaco]

there is no need to disconnect battery for this ambient temp reset. Just pull the sensor out of the mirror housing, unplug it for a minute or so, then reinstall.

Thanks for that info. Didn’t work for me, unfortunately. Ended up bringing it into the dealer and they confirmed an intermittent short causing my swing. Some days were okay on temp, other days were 40F off.

They ordered in a new mirror, took two weeks. Just installed the new mirror and none of the functions work, so apparently they’re ordering another new mirror assembly.

How common is this problem?!

 

[Timeless]

It is easily 30 degrees off high in the summer...got in my truck yesterday and it read 122 degrees....by the time my 15 min drive home it was almost correct around 92 degrees.

 

[Eltaco]

It is easily 30 degrees off high in the summer...got in my truck yesterday and it read 122 degrees....by the time my 15 min drive home it was almost correct around 92 degrees.

Yeah, different problem. Mine could be on a cool morning and read 110F, drive for an hour and watch it climb to 115F

Seems maybe mine was a rare issue, as I don’t see anyone else in the thread with the same symptom. It is interesting that the replacement mirror also had issues, though.

The dealer also broke the door panel while working on the mirror, so now I’ll be back again for a door panel replacement and new mirror assembly.

 

[Kicker]

Went through the car wash (is a truck wash when I go through?) and while it was 96 out it read 78. About a half hour later it started climbing up to the correct 96. First time I noticed this other than it reading hot when sitting but a few miles and it drops to where it should be.
Is there a connector/jack in there getting wet perhaps? And what mirror is it in?

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Went through the car wash (is a truck wash when I go through?) and while it was 96 out it read 78. About a half hour later it started climbing up to the correct 96. First time I noticed this other than it reading hot when sitting but a few miles and it drops to where it should be.
Is there a connector/jack in there getting wet perhaps? And what mirror is it in?

It's in the driver's mirror.

 

[brian42]

It's shaded, wet, and cool compared to the outside. You may be reading the actual ambient temperature in the car wash.

 

[Kicker]

It's shaded, wet, and cool compared to the outside. You may be reading the actual ambient temperature in the car wash.

2 hours later? Then it took 30 minutes from start moving to actual temp.

 

[brian42]

Good point. I discounted the time lapse.

I have lots of sun down here and it's common for me to see 100F+ for ambient temperature when I first start the truck. It stays there for as long as the truck is stationary but it only takes a few minutes of driving for the temp to get down to "actual".

 

[jimk hunt]

Went through the car wash (is a truck wash when I go through?) and while it was 96 out it read 78. About a half hour later it started climbing up to the correct 96. First time I noticed this other than it reading hot when sitting but a few miles and it drops to where it should be.
Is there a connector/jack in there getting wet perhaps? And what mirror is it in?

Car Wash? You must hate your truck......

 

[PalafoxLaramie1]

So yesterday my engine light went off, I was a little worried because I have only 19k miles on my 2020 Ram, stop by the NAPA store to use one of their diagnostic tools, and did say was the Ambient outside sensor, so he reset the light, but the sensor still not working well, but this one instead of giving me a high reading is lower and then just don't show any degrees at all, any ideas?

 

[brian42]

Could be several things - bad sensor, connector, wiring, or software glitch.

Since it is under the basic warranty I would take it to the dealership and let them figure it out. Plus it gets documented so that if anything happens down the road you have this on file with FCA.

Unfortunately NAPA reset the check engine light so the dealership won't be able to pinpoint the issue based on the code. The only thing they have to go on now is the fact that your ambient temp isn't reading anything. Even if you wrote down the code and take it to the dealership they will only troubleshoot based on what they see, not what you bring them.

 

[PalafoxLaramie1]

the reason I knew to do the disconnect-reinstall trick, was someone else on here did it and said it worked. So I did it, and sure enough, worked like a charm.

Did you disconnect the battery?

 

[brian42]

Did you disconnect the battery?

If you disconnect the battery give things time to come back. This isn't a 1990 truck, it's a rolling computer.

It takes time for everything to boot up, sync, and execute. It's usually over a short period of time but some options could take longer (overnight) or several engine cycles before everything's working again.

 

[PalafoxLaramie1]

Could be several things - bad sensor, connector, wiring, or software glitch.

Since it is under the basic warranty I would take it to the dealership and let them figure it out. Plus it gets documented so that if anything happens down the road you have this on file with FCA.

Unfortunately NAPA reset the check engine light so the dealership won't be able to pinpoint the issue based on the code. The only thing they have to go on now is the fact that your ambient temp isn't reading anything. Even if you wrote down the code and take it to the dealership they will only troubleshoot based on what they see, not what you bring them.

Thank you, the engine light is on right now, so i'm just going to call de dealer, thanks again.

 

[PalafoxLaramie1]

If you disconnect the battery give things time to come back. This isn't a 1990 truck, it's a rolling computer.

It takes time for everything to boot up, sync, and execute. It's usually over a short period of time but some options could take longer (overnight) or several engine cycles before everything's working again.

I was just wondering if before he removed the sensor he removed the negative wire from the battery or he just did it without.

 

[jdmartin]

I don't know about the engine light, but somehow I missed this conversation when it first came up last year.

I remember in the old days we just stuck our head outside to see what the temperature was. Back then there were only 3 temperatures:

1. Cold as balls - put on a sweater or a jacket and a wool cap. Turn on the heat.
2. Just right - only short sleeves needed. Save on utility bills.
3. Hotter than hell - go inside and crank up the AC.

Unless I had money riding on the over/under of today's forecast, I can't conceive of any situation where I would actually even care if the temperature gauge was accurate or not.

 

[PalafoxLaramie1]

28° Outside right now here, and because the sensor engine light is on, remote start works but the engine turns off itself because the engine light, can't use one of the nices things on my truck on this cold weather