Car (apparently) overheating

[Shounak]

My car's been running fine, but occasionally the temp guage will go through the roof. Right near the High mark and the trip computer will beep at me..

If I stand it still for a little while (or turn off the engine), the fans go nuts and the car returns to normal temperature after a while..

The dodgy thing is today I kept driving it and it went from High to just under middle (normal) and moved between the two a few times..

I'm guessing the fault is with the coolant temp sensor. Any idea where this is, how I can change it or what else the problem could be?

 

[Snotty]

do you get any irregularities with the other gauges or lights? like the gauge will jump around or the lights dim every so often???

 

[Shounak]

Nope.. Everything is perfect, just the temp gauge..

 

[accentstencil]

The coolant temperature sensor is just below the thermostat housing, and just under the coil pack.

 

[Shounak]

Thanks mate, I'll have a look..

 

[yeah.yeah]

could be just a crook earthing wire...

 

[Snotty]

yeah thats what i was leaning towards,
had the same problem but with all the gauges and lights..

turned out to be a bad earth from the engine block

 

[minux]

Could also be the thermostat not opening until it get's a heap of heat through who know's

 

[mistaken]

I had the same issue however couldn't find the source. Since I hadn't done a coolant flush in a while, I did that and problem solvered.

Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not

 

[Shounak]

Yeha it's still happening. Car's still running hot and going down to normal within a few seconds..

If it gets too serious or if happens too often then I'll just change the thermostat, give the radiator a proper flush out and maybe even the water pump depending on how much it costs..

For the time being, I'm inclined to leave it though..