Need your opinion
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,466
Likes: 51
St. Jude Donor '17
Need your opinion
I had my car in the shop for a bumper replacement.
I had previously replaced my outside air temp sensor and connector with a patch cable from gm.
In this process of bumper repair the patch cable came loose on the wire connection crimp (wire nut). They did not know where it went and coiled it up.
I pointed it out on inspection day with another issue so they took it back to fix it.
When he came back he told me they did not know where it went so they put the wire to ground. I give the "BIG OH NO" and have them take that off and put it where it should go.
Now my air temp is reading -39 like the sensor is bad again and a/c flashing. I left it in their hands to fix the problem.
Would putting the sensor wire to ground damage the sensor or the hvac 700 dollar part?
Thanks
I had previously replaced my outside air temp sensor and connector with a patch cable from gm.
In this process of bumper repair the patch cable came loose on the wire connection crimp (wire nut). They did not know where it went and coiled it up.
I pointed it out on inspection day with another issue so they took it back to fix it.
When he came back he told me they did not know where it went so they put the wire to ground. I give the "BIG OH NO" and have them take that off and put it where it should go.
Now my air temp is reading -39 like the sensor is bad again and a/c flashing. I left it in their hands to fix the problem.
Would putting the sensor wire to ground damage the sensor or the hvac 700 dollar part?
Thanks
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 256
Likes: 1
From: Delta BC
If it is a thermister with a pullup or pulldown resistor which is what I would assume they would be using, I think shorting it to ground would cause the sensor to read high or low (max or low temp that the sensor reads). I don't think it would do any damage as the pulldown resistor will limit the amount of current flowing through a sensor.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,188
Likes: 4,178
From: Kannapolis NC
Did you drive the car after it was reconnected? It states in the owner's manual that it must be driven for a certain amount of time and at a minimum speed to update. I don't see how shorting it to ground could cause a problem on either end, it's a sensor and has extremely small voltage involved. Basically a thermistor. You may just need to drive the car, if it doesn't come back, recheck the connections in the plug.
Racer
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 256
Likes: 1
From: Delta BC
Check to see if there is power going to the sensor, shorting the sensor to ground shouldn't cause a problem but if they shorted the power coming to the sensor then there might be blown fuse.
Disconnect the sensor and probe the connector that connects to the sensor, you can use paper clips to insert into the connector if your leads don't fit in the connector. If there is voltage, I would guess that your sensor is gone bad otherwise you have no power so it might be a blown fuse.
These are the senarios that come to mind but I haven't seen the schematic so it could be something different.
Hope that helps.
Disconnect the sensor and probe the connector that connects to the sensor, you can use paper clips to insert into the connector if your leads don't fit in the connector. If there is voltage, I would guess that your sensor is gone bad otherwise you have no power so it might be a blown fuse.
These are the senarios that come to mind but I haven't seen the schematic so it could be something different.
Hope that helps.
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 22,188
Likes: 4,178
From: Kannapolis NC
It'll read whatever it read last until you drive it and let it update. You may be ok. Let us know.
From the owner's manual:
There is also a sensor located behind the front bumper. This sensor reads the outside air temperature and helps to maintain the temperature inside the vehicle. Any cover on the front of the vehicle could give a false reading in the temperature.
If the outside temperature goes up, the displayed temperature will not change until:
The vehicle's speed is above 16 mph (26 km/h) for one and a half minutes.
The vehicle's speed is above 45 mph (72 km/h) for one minute.
These delays prevent false readings. If the temperature goes down, the outside temperature will be shown when you start the vehicle. If it has been turned off for less than three hours, the temperature will be recalled from the previous vehicle operation
From the owner's manual:
There is also a sensor located behind the front bumper. This sensor reads the outside air temperature and helps to maintain the temperature inside the vehicle. Any cover on the front of the vehicle could give a false reading in the temperature.
If the outside temperature goes up, the displayed temperature will not change until:
The vehicle's speed is above 16 mph (26 km/h) for one and a half minutes.
The vehicle's speed is above 45 mph (72 km/h) for one minute.
These delays prevent false readings. If the temperature goes down, the outside temperature will be shown when you start the vehicle. If it has been turned off for less than three hours, the temperature will be recalled from the previous vehicle operation
Last edited by 65GGvert; Apr 10, 2008 at 09:26 PM.
Thread Starter
Le Mans Master
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 8,466
Likes: 51
St. Jude Donor '17
Well it read -39 (no signal) after being hooked up immediately.
The trick was driving it. I went back to the shop and it was working as they brought it back up to me.
Thanks for the info again.
The trick was driving it. I went back to the shop and it was working as they brought it back up to me.
Thanks for the info again.
