ok guys this is been happening to me for a while now that its cold...so its been like 50* here in tampa lately and car warms up to operating temps just fine...i do a 3rd gear pull on the highway and start cruising and notice that my coolant temp is at like a 1/4...car was running very cool...turned the car off at my destination...get back in the car to go, get to operating temp...after a while i notice temp at a 1/4 again...can the car be going back to open loop if the temps are this low or do i have this closed loop and open loop thing wrong? what can be causing the temp to go this low? can thermostat be getting stuck open or something? thx...

 

Yes, on both counts---thermos sounds like its stuck open and yes, that will effect open and closed loop operation as part of that depends on engine temp.

 

damn it...i wonder if thats the reason that pull felt slow...maybe it was in open loop? i guess i can try a new thermostat and see...

 

Another possibility is if the intake to firewall ground is disconnected or flaky the gauge will provide an incorrect reading.

 

ill check it but its not jumpy or anything...

 

Sometimes it is a good idea to scan the engine coolant reading at the ECU and compare it to the gauge reading. There are separate sensors for the gauge and the ECU.

 

i can do this with evoscan right? if so, can it be monitored live while the car is running with evoscan?

 

Yup.

 

awesome i will try it...i ordered a thermostat and radiator cap from the dealer so lets see what it does after i install it...i will check it with evoscan also...thx barneyb...