06 camry. temp gage all the way up

driving my 06 camry 4cyl auto today. looked at the temp gage. it is all the way up passed the red zone. pulled over opened hood. everything normal. engine not overheated.noticed when i turned the engine off temp gage just came back to midway.thought wll take it to the dealer tomorrow.went somewhere little later and temp gage is acting normal again stays in the middle while driving and when i turn the engine off gage comes all the way to the bottom like it should. you know it will act perfect, so no reason to take to dealer.anyone have any ideas? just

3300 miles.
Reply to
Dave Dave
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would guess poor connection at sending unit, or defective sending unit (that would be the sensor reads coolant temperature and converts it to an electrical signal to be sent to the gauge) This is predicated on your assertion that the car did not overheat, only the gauge reading was erratic. If the engine actually overheated, one would suspect a sticking thermostat, and potential engine damage from running while in the red or danger zone for coolant temperature, although Toyota thermostats seem to fail most often in the open position minimizing this type of risk. Aluminum engine components are less tolerant of overheating and often you only get to do that once. But is most likely the sending unit. Once drove my old Toyota truck for over a year with the red oil pressure warning light on. Was on when I bought the truck and it ran just fine, so I assumed there must be oil pressure. When I finally changed the sensor, the warning light went out.

Reply to
Daniel

I had that on a GM, it was the computer, some computers record events, some events the mechanic must see the gauge being off or they can`t or wont fix it.

Reply to
m Ransley

No, you should take it to the dealer regardless. If it's something simple like the temperature sender (you said things returned to nromaly fairly quickly), then that gets changed out for free under warranty.

But if it is more serious, then at least the dealer will have a chance to help you out. More importantly, get it documented in your service records.

Reply to
johngdole

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