Car- Outside Temperature Indicator

Is that the dash of a 99 Buick Century?

Because the sensor is in direct sun. Heating up the element/probe.

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Because the sensor is in direct sun. Heating up the element/probe.

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True but mine even shows wrong under my carport......
Really curious about where the sensor is located.

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True but mine even shows wrong under my carport......
Really curious about where the sensor is located.

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Well, you can google, but it is the same idea.

Some materials store heat.

I think it’s under the car so it picks up hotter temps from the ground or even the surrounding metals.

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Oh ok, thanks. The sensor is on the sun. You've been most helpful.

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I agree with you. I think that is heat absorbed by the metal and then radiated. That's different than ambient air temperature. I see the same thing and it usually cools down two to three degrees when air moves over the car while in motion.

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2004 Mercury Grand Marquis

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Probably behind the grille on that car.

I wondered the same.
I took my infrared thermometer out with me. Asphalt road was 132, concrete parking lot was 121 with an outside temp of 98.
So I assume the car is measuring the actual air temp the car is passing through.

Part of the reason is because it’s not actually a standard thermometer, it’s something called a thermistor. A thermistor measures the change in electrical current as a result of heat added or removed, rather than directly measuring temperature. It’s usually pretty accurate… except when you mount it in a car engine where it is exposed to re-radiated heat from the asphalt surface. That makes it read a higher temperature than it actually is because the re-radiated heat gives a higher reading since the thermistor is based on the electrical current.