Car Running hot???

[Beretta_gal]

Hello everyone...This ia a question about my 95 2.2 base. A couple weeks ago I had a new Temp Sensor installed...(by my dad,but he know's his stuff) anyway I have noticed that since the new temp sensopr was put in,mu temp guage (after the car warms up) goes all the way to the red,then slowly goes back down to the half mark,then back up to the red and it keeps doing this the whole time while i'm driving the car,I don't know why,my dad said I may have gotten a bad Temp sensor??? Does anyone have any suggestions? The guage NEVER went above the half mark before replacing the sensor. Thanks in advance!!!!

[Haskin]

It could be a bad sensor. Why was the sensor replaced, since you mentioned it never went above the half mark before?

[Beretta_gal]

I had it in the shop do to some problems I was having with it,and when the mechanic put it on the scanner all that pulled up was a Bad temp Sensor,so instead of paying the mechanic the cost of labor and parts,I just bought the part myself and had my dad install it,and right after my dad put it in and I drove home is when it started going up into the red,then back down,and so on....my dad checked the car the other day when I stopped by his house,he felt around and said it's not "HOT", and it just may be I got a bad sensor?!?! Thanks for the input Haskin!

[3X00-Modified]

well if the sensor was replaced and now a code is gone I wouldn't say its the sensor... I would look at the possibility of being the thermostat. Also I would not compare your current readings with ones you got when the ECM was throwing a code for a bad sensor.

Also is this a three pin sensor or a 2 pin one? There are sometimes two temp sensors on these cars, one for the fan and ECM reading and one seperate for the dash gauge.

[Haskin]

I agree with modified. It sounds like your sensor is functioning correctly now, but your thermostat is taking too long to open up. You can test this by boiling or microwaving water to about 180 degrees and dropping the thermostat in. It should start opening right away. I went through 2 before I got one that worked.

Hope that helps.

[Beretta_gal]

Thanks guys...I will look into it further and get it fixed.