Temperature Gauge

[coolaid38]

Last night, I was at a friends house. As soon as I got there, my temperature gauge showed a little overheating adn then dropped all the way to cold and it hasnt come back up since. Any info on this? Thanks

[jr6078]

Well, as a relatively new Alero owner, I can't tell you if this is a problem that Alero's are prone to having, but I don't recall seeing anything previously in the forum.

Could be any of several things that typically causes this kind of problem.

1. Is your anti-freeze level full? If, not fill the resevoir and see if that fixes the problem. Also, make sure the cap seals properly.

2. Is your heater blowing hot air with the temp selector all the way to hot and the engine at normal operating temperature? (Check this after you verify full anti-freeze) If not, then your thermostat is likely stuck open and will need to be replaced.

3. If the anti-freeze is full and the heater blows hot air, then the coolant temp sensor could be bad, but in most cars this would cause the check engine light to come on and could possibly cause the car to run poorly, because the computer is seeing an incorrect engine temp and incorrectly managing the fuel/air mixture.

4. Last, and least likely, is that your guage has quit working or that you have a blown fuse or damaged wire that operates the guage. (If it's a blown fuse, you would likely have other electrical components not working)

Hope this helps and good luck!!