W124 outside temperature guage intermittent fault

[SilverSaloon]

hi

on my silver W124 the outside temp guage sometimes reads a very low number (ie -7.0 degrees) and sometimes the display goes off completely for a few seconds. 70% of the time it displays the correct value.

Is this likely to be the sensor starting to die (ie the part fixed to the front bumper) or the display in the cluster, or is there anything else that may cause the issue?

just wondering what part i should try replacing 1st - thanks in advance.

Derek

 

[andy27168]

Hi,
It will be the sensor, I have a similar issue with my C230k, and the sensor had been bouncing along on the road and the plastic had worn through and damaged it, no display or reading problems till this happened, I swapped it for the one on my AMG and no more issues.

 

[SilverSaloon]

the plastic had worn through and damaged it

there appears to of been a black coating on the sensor but now the shiney metal surface can be seen - maybe this is the same thing.

I wonder if spraying it with some spray paint would protect it again and it may start reading again? i suppose it depends on how much a replacement sensor is.....

 

[Tinkerer]

I would think that it is a thermocouple which should not be worried about the paint coating at all, check all the connector joints as if these are corroded or damp they will affect the reading significantly.

 

[GP801]

Son has a V70 that gave crazy readings until the sensor was changed. All been good since then. Not sure about the price for MB but the Volvo one was not expensive.

 

[Stratman]

I'd go with Tinkerer's suggestion first.

Changing the sensor may mask the real cure, namely reseating the two pin plug and socket connector.

 

[SilverSaloon]

thanks - i will check out the connectors before purchasing a new sender. it does have the appearance of a loose connection i guess.

 

[Simportant]

Hi, bit late in commenting but I was wondering if the sensor did the trick?

If so where did you get it and how much? Is it an easy job to replace?