Hello again, I'm back with another question.
While working doing my delivery's today I noticed every time I idle for more then two minutes my coolant temp gauge starts to go up, went to 3/4 then a little past that then came back down. I checked with my scan tool and the highest my coolant temp was 199.4F, at that time my fan came on and it started going down then I started driving again. Gauge came down but was still almost 3/4 but scan tool showed coolant temp as 181F. I checked for leaks, none that I can see. Fan is working as expected, coolant level is just below the full line. No check engine codes. Is it possible the cluster gauge is acting up? I read about adding another ground to the battery to potentially fix cluster gauge problems. My cluster gauge does already have problems, my fuel is always off/sticking.
Any specific things I should check? I'm gonna start with the ground, then probably move on to coolant sensor/thermostat. Coolant is new btw, well was done about 20k miles ago.
Edit: Car has 179k miles, has the 2.4 engine.
Coolant temperature sensor.
Just replaced that today and same issue occurs. Now it's going up into the red. Checking with scan tool still shows <200 on coolant temp, no leaks, coolant full, engine sounds fine/not rough while in the red. Here's two pictures, one what my scan tool is showing and the other of the gauge. https://imgur.com/a/N2ZACNT what else can I/should I look for? Thanks.
what else can I/should I look for? Thanks.
Check for a short in the gauge cluster wiring. Most temperature gauges will peg up into the red if the sending unit input is shorted to ground. Additionally if the gauge is buffered by a computer module, that module or wiring to it may be defective.
Check for the fuses that serve the gauge cluster, especially if you're having problems with other gauges (fuel). If they're good, look at the radiator cap and a possible stuck thermostat. Take a hammer and gently tap on the thermostat housing and see if it changes the temp reading. If it does, it's time for a new thermostat. Checking the ground, especially at the battery is a really good idea.