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outside temperature sensor not accurate

25K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  Gstom1 
#1 ·
exterior Temperature sensor

I was wondering if your exterior temperature reading was accurate.
In our van, it's pretty accurate in temperatures at or above 60F, but below that it starts reading incorrectly.

For example, we were in Atlanta during the holidays, when temperatures were between the high 20s and the mid 40s, and our temperature indicator never droped below 47F.

Incase it matters, we have a transmission cooler, so i didn't know if that was placed too close to the temperature sensor perhaps..

thanks,
-Phil
 
#2 ·
Mine seems to be very accurate.

I have two different temperature sensors outside and they both seem to be in sync with the one in the Odyssey. In the last two weeks I have seen variations from 0 to about 28 degrees. My garage is warmer but as soon as I start driving it correctly lists the outside temperature in a few minutes.
 
#3 ·
ok great, i'll have the dealership look at it. I have 2 seperate outdoor temp probes at my parents house both indicated 37F, my mom's car indicated 37F, but in Odyssey land, it was 49F, and after driving a little bit it was now 52F... great.

now that i'm back in florida, yesterday my outdoor temp said 60F, and the odyssey said the same thing, so it's definitly off on the low temp readings.
 
#4 ·
#5 ·
EE4Life said:
thanks for your reply, unfortunatly I do not have access to the links you posted.

Btw, I do understand the logic of the thermometer, I've seen how it works with other cars, and this is our 4th honda.
During my drives, some have been 30+minutes on the freeway [trip to the airport] and the temperature was significantly off the entire time (showing high 40s when temp was mid 30s). Also after an 8hour drive from Tampa to Atlanta, it was telling me the exterior temperature was 52F when I arrived at my parents house, when in actuality it was 36F.
 
#6 ·
PhilZJ said:
thanks for your reply, unfortunatly I do not have access to the links you posted.

Btw, I do understand the logic of the thermometer, I've seen how it works with other cars, and this is our 4th honda.
During my drives, some have been 30+minutes on the freeway [trip to the airport] and the temperature was significantly off the entire time (showing high 40s when temp was mid 30s). Also after an 8hour drive from Tampa to Atlanta, it was telling me the exterior temperature was 52F when I arrived at my parents house, when in actuality it was 36F.
PM sent.

Since your tranny cooler is in the area of the sensor, it may very well be affecting the reading. Unfortunately, the tranny cooler is not something that can be easily disconnected to see if there is a difference.
 
#7 ·
We just got a new 2011 Touring and seem to be having a similar problem. It was about 45 in Chicago today and the car was left in an outdoor lot while my wife and I ate lunch. We were in separate cars and drove home. About 2 mins I get a call from her asking what temp my BMW said. It read 47, hers said 68. It took another 5 mins to get home and she said it was down to 66. Is this happening b/c it is new or is there something else wrong with the car? It doesn't make sense that after sitting outside for an hour in 47 degree weather the car would read 68 and after 5 mins of driving only go down to 66.

Thanks for the help.
 
#8 ·
I have gone to honda with this, they 'tested' the sensor and said it responds correctly in their test... The only thing I can do is wait until it gets cold (i'm in florida so temp is in the 80s already) and bring it in. When it's warm it's pretty accurate, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

I'd be curious to see what your dealership says if you can bring it in and reproduce it with them.
 
#9 ·
I found this post in a different thread, can it really be right? It kind of sounded like what my wife saw. If that happens it would be hard to reproduce at the dealership since they are 25 miles away on the highway.

Outside temp gauge
This is by far the worst feature on our '06 EX-L. No temp update occurs until the van is driven over 19 mph for 90 continuous seconds, since this never happens in around town driving, the temp gauge is useless in normal driving. We leave a 65 degree garage on a 100 degree day, run several errands, and the temp never moves from 65. When it does update, it is 1 degree every 60 seconds, fine for longer freeway trip, but useless in the real world. A very annoying feature (My friends say I should get a life) to me in a great van.

I really cant understand what logic Honda had in mind when they designed this. No other car has ever had this problem.

Why, Honda, Why?.
 
#11 ·
Do you think the road temperature stays at ambient temperature? Black asphault and brown concrete will warm the surface area considerably higher than posted ambient temp. All that steel in the van does the same thing. My deck right now reads 15 degrees higher than posted temperature. There is no way you are going to get the car temperature to track posted ambient temp.
 
#12 ·
I'm not sure about your deck situation, so I can't comment.
I know how temp sensor are affected. I have 2 exterior temp sensors, one is in a covered area of the yard by the pool, the other is on the other side of the house in the sun, so I understand the temp variance.

Also, in my posts, I did say that I verified it with an out door temp, and also I was following my mom in her ML, and I called her to get her temp readouts. This is also not the first car with an exterior temp probe, so I am familiar with how things fluctuate.
 
#14 ·
Has anyone else noticed this? When we first start our Odyssey Touring, the display on the center of the console displays a temperature that is way off.

For example, today it is about 75F outside, when we first started the van it was showing a temperature of 104F :huh: and after about 5 minutes of street driving it showed 78F.

Is anyone else noticing this?
 
#15 ·
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