Q: Temperature gauge jumping around?

asked by on February 11, 2017

When i turn on my 85 Toyota Camry, the temperature gauge stays on cold from when i turn on the car until I brake, then the needle starts to jump around, however it never goes up past the halfway point. I've checked my coolant levels and that's all fine.

My car has 270000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Coolant Temperature Switch (Sensor) Replacement $103.56 - $422.45 Get a Quote

Hi There, It sounds like you may have a faulty coolant temperature sensor. The coolant temperature sensor, is a sensor that reads the engine coolant temperature and sends a signal to the engine control module, or ECM, to control other functions of engine operation such as the air-fuel ratio. When this is not working properly, you may notice an erratic fluctuation in the temperature gauge as you have described. I would suggest having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and inspect your car.

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