Temp. Guage reading Different

Okay, after several posts and repairs this is were we are at. We have a 2000 chevy venture that we have replaced the thermostat in as well as the temp sensor and a new radiator. Since these repairs the temp. guage reads at the little tick mark between the major 1/4 and 1/2 marks. We thought the fans weren't kicking on but they will kick on when the guage hits the little tick mark between 1/2 and 3/4 and then the guage goes back down to between 1/4 and 1/2. Before we had this work done my van always ran at the major 1/4 mark and would go only up to the 1/2 way mark. Why is it reading hotter. The thermostat is a 192 or 195 i'm not sure but we got it from the dealer. The car is not overheating but does smell hot and the fans do come on like they are supposed to. My neighbor has the same van and hers works is like mine used to. Any insight would be appreciated. Could there be something wrong with the guage or the computer or is this just the way it is? Thanks in advance.

Saying 1/4 or 1/2 mark really doesn't mean a whole lot. You need to figure out what exactly those temperatures are at. You can measure the resistance across the sensor terminals and that corresponds to specific temperatures. Or you can use a scan tool that allows you to query the OBDII data for run-time sensor readings.

With my 98 Transport, the normal operating temperature is right at 195. This corresponds to the first major mark, approximately 1/3 the way up the scale. I think that we have different gauges so no direct comparisons can be made. It will fluctuate a little depending on speed, outside temperature, etc, but usually is right around that mark. Natural air flow from driving is sufficient to cool things down.

Sitting in traffic or in my idling, the air isn't blowing nearly as hard. As such, the temperature will start to rise. Eventually to the point where the fans kick in. I believe on mine they kick in around 230 degrees and then back off around 215. I don't remember exactly though. As long as the fans cycle on and off, you are fine.

As to your neighbor's van that operates as yours use to, it's possible that her temp sensor is also lazy, not reporting the correct temperature. Keep your eye on it, but don't worry too much about it. As long as it doesn't go beyond 3/4 into the red or swing quickly one way or another, you are probably fine.

I am curious as to why you replaced the radiator and tempsensor? Was there an overheating problem previously?

A different temperature sensor may operate a bit differently than the previous one and so it may seem to get hotter according to the gauge but in actuality due to the inaccuracies of the gauge may only be a few degrees difference. Since you replaced the rad, temp sender and ts I wonder if whatever problem you had also affected your water pump. Perhaps it is weak.

CDRU

You said that your fans come on when the temperautre hits 230 degrees? Are you refering to the coolant temperature or something else?

We replaced the radiator because it had a small leak in it and the temp. sensor was replaced because after the thermostat replacement the guage was reading higher than normal so they thought this would fix the problem. When they had the van on the scan and it was running at an idle for awhile they said the engine temp. was 215 and the placement of the guage was between 1/2 and 3/4. Since all this work my guage travels the same amount of distance before the fans kick on, its just that it sits between 1/4 and 1/2 and after sitting idle for awhile it will go between 1/2 and 3/4 before fans kick on. Since I purchased the van the guage always sat at 1/4 and would go to 1/2 when the fans kick on. I was just wondering why the guage reads a little hotter than it used to.

You said that your fans come on when the temperautre hits 230 degrees? Are you refering to the coolant temperature or something else?Coolant tempature, as reported to the ECU. My scantool has a realtime reading. I may be off on my temp though, but IIRC it was in that vacinity. The range from when the fans kicked on to when they shut off really wasn't that much and both points were well above the 195 the thermostat opens up at and the engine normally runs on the road.

Since I purchased the van the guage always sat at 1/4 and would go to 1/2 when the fans kick on. I was just wondering why the guage reads a little hotter than it used to.The needle movement is linear, but the markings on the guage are not. I know on my gauge the "cold" side is marked at 100, 4 small ticks, a major, then 4 more small and another major. The 2nd major tick is labled at 210 and is fairly accurate. The 1st major mark is 195 from watching my scan tool. I would have put the first major mark significantly lower then 195. So each tick is a few degrees, at least on my dash.

I new thermostat, temp sensor, radiator, new coolant, etc all can lead to a few degree difference. As long as it's within the operating range, don't worry about it too much.