Coolant Temp Readings

[Julieann]

Hey all, needing some advice please. I have a 2014 journey SE. A month ago i had to change out both thermostats and the housing unit. About 2 weeks or so ago my coolant temperature readings are crazy all over the place. Example: i start the car and start driving and lets say it reads 162 and less than a minute later it reads <100. I will turn the car off and wait a few minutes turn on and it will lets say read 172 and within minutes jumps to 207 back down to 190 up to 220 down to <100 back up to 210 down to 199 to 245. You understand and it is a constant. It hardly sits at one temperature reading number. It is like lets say 199 198 199 200 198 203 202 203 202 199 210. Like that, just a constant bouncing. What is making it do this? Coolant is full, resivor tank in middle of min and max. I have heat and air conditioning, fan is working. New water pump was put in last thanksgiving day. No check engine lights or any lights are on on the dash. Advice? Ever hear if this? 🤔 I appreciate any and all input.

[2late4u]

so you have the 2.4 eng I guess, sounds like you have changed a good bit of things, since the temp is all over the place I would replace the TEMP SENSOR  and also make sure all the connections are tight and clean,,and by the fan is working comment you mean the fan in the engine compartment and not the ac fan I assume.Please report back on what ever fixes your problem for others to learn from.....good luck

Edited August 17, 2025 by 2late4u
spelling

[larryl]

The temp will bounce as the coolant heats or cools as you are driving or stopped AC on outside temp, fan comes on etc

[2late4u]

190 up to 220 down to <100 back up to 210 down to 199 to 245.    this is to big of a change for just fans kicking on and ac change,, at 245 he would be overheating his engine IF it really was going that high , either loose connection at his temp sensor or a bad one would be my guess

[2late4u]

cheap and easy part to replace 

[2late4u]

https://youtu.be/KE9ncd_e5WM?feature=shared             here is another video at the end he talks about false readings.........also have YOU had the vehicle scanned for codes very important as well...

[Julieann]

I have not had it code tested. By the fan is working i am speaking of the fan infrint if the engine behind the grill. I forgot to add that most mornings when I turn on the car, the coolant is often reading over 100. Example: i oarked the car at 4pm when I got home lastnight and did not drive anymore. This morning I go to turn on the car at 5:30am to head to work and coolant showed 186 and it would atart and stall and after 5 attempts it started.

[Julieann]

15 hours ago, Julieann said:

Hey all, needing some advice please. I have a 2014 journey SE. A month ago i had to change out both thermostats and the housing unit. About 2 weeks or so ago my coolant temperature readings are crazy all over the place. Example: i start the car and start driving and lets say it reads 162 and less than a minute later it reads <100. I will turn the car off and wait a few minutes turn on and it will lets say read 172 and within minutes jumps to 207 back down to 190 up to 220 down to <100 back up to 210 down to 199 to 245. You understand and it is a constant. It hardly sits at one temperature reading number. It is like lets say 199 198 199 200 198 203 202 203 202 199 210. Like that, just a constant bouncing. What is making it do this? Coolant is full, resivor tank in middle of min and max. I have heat and air conditioning, fan is working. New water pump was put in last thanksgiving day. No check engine lights or any lights are on on the dash. Advice? Ever hear if this? 🤔 I appreciate any and all input.

Yes it is a 2.4 engine.

[Julieann]

14 hours ago, 2late4u said:

so you have the 2.4 eng I guess, sounds like you have changed a good bit of things, since the temp is all over the place I would replace the TEMP SENSOR  and also make sure all the connections are tight and clean,,and by the fan is working comment you mean the fan in the engine compartment and not the ac fan I assume.Please report back on what ever fixes your problem for others to learn from.....good luck

Yes it is a 2.4 engine. The fan i am speaking about is infront of the engine behind the grill. Thank you for answering.

[2late4u]

3 hours ago, Julieann said:

Yes it is a 2.4 engine. The fan i am speaking about is infront of the engine behind the grill. Thank you for answering.

as I said I would replace the coolant temp sensor /temp sensor also check the wiring as well for broken or corroded connections as well

[Julieann]

On 8/17/2025 at 5:00 PM, Julieann said:

Hey all, needing some advice please. I have a 2014 journey SE. A month ago i had to change out both thermostats and the housing unit. About 2 weeks or so ago my coolant temperature readings are crazy all over the place. Example: i start the car and start driving and lets say it reads 162 and less than a minute later it reads <100. I will turn the car off and wait a few minutes turn on and it will lets say read 172 and within minutes jumps to 207 back down to 190 up to 220 down to <100 back up to 210 down to 199 to 245. You understand and it is a constant. It hardly sits at one temperature reading number. It is like lets say 199 198 199 200 198 203 202 203 202 199 210. Like that, just a constant bouncing. What is making it do this? Coolant is full, resivor tank in middle of min and max. I have heat and air conditioning, fan is working. New water pump was put in last thanksgiving day. No check engine lights or any lights are on on the dash. Advice? Ever hear if this? 🤔 I appreciate any and all input.

I changed my coolant temperature sensor and all seems to be doing good. The check engine light came on thursday morning and I changed the part Friday(had to wait for it to come in at dealership). Engine light still on and Autozone said it was saying it was the coolant temp sensor. So i have a co worker that will clear it.

[2late4u]

 

thanks for reporting back on what fixed your problem

[Julieann]

On This past Thursday morning the engine light came on when I was headed to work. I had ordered the sensor from a disge dealership and it would be there Friday morning. So I leave work on Thursday at 3pm(i work an hour away) and about 15 min after i left work it shot to 260 so i pulled over and let it cool for 45 min then drove 10 min and it shot to 260 again. I kept pulling over waiting at one point 2 hours. I finally pulled into my driveway at 7:50 pm. The dealership is 2 blocks from my house so i ran and picked it up and changed it out. The O ring on the old one was very loose and infact was half off the sensor. Very easy to change and took about 10 min. I test drove it and the needle stayed between c and h. The engine light was/is still on so i drove to Autozone and had them check just incase it was something else and it came up the coolant temperature sensor. Hopefully today my co worker will clear it off. Thanks for all your advice.