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Outside Temperature Sensor

113K views 98 replies 59 participants last post by  Mikee 
#1 ·
My renegade is reading the outside temperature sometimes 10 degrees warmer than it is. Today it was 80F but the temp said 94F.

Does anyone else have this issue?

Thanks
 
#76 ·
Check Engine Code: P0073 https://www.obd-codes.com/p0073

Step 1:
Purchase a cheap 10K thermistor. The one in the photo cost $0.21/each. Mine is a larger tolerance and higher Beta range, but it is working for my Jeep. This a dumb simple little sensor that should not cost much to replace or be a lot of work. I've read main other forums of people going to dealers and having many issues. Vehicles should not be hard to fix. People should also learn how to be independent of the dealer and fix their own issues.

Step 2:
Remove the cap on the mirror housing, you do not have to remove the mirror from the door. Cut off the OEM sensor wires as soon. The photo shows the sensor out of the mirror housing. This is so I could look at it as I explored options. I did place it back in the housing so that the mirror appeared OEM from the outside and keep the hole in the housing blocked as OEM. If you are doing this, just cut the wires

Step 3:
Attach the thermistor to striped wires where the out sensor was cut off. I did test the thermistor before soldering to make sure it worked. My Jeep is currently reading 2-3 degrees F from surrounding thermometers and weather apps. I would suggest testing the thermistor you get like this to make sure it works for you. Make sure to slip on the heat shrink before soldering.

Step 4: Finish the heat shrinking so that the wires can not touch. I added a larger heat shrink tube over both wires and wrapped it in electrical tape. Ziptied the new sensor to the wiring loom to keep high and dry. This appears to be the cleanest place inside the mirror housing.

Step 5: Clear the engine check code.

This is just my findings and modifications I did. It is up to you figure out what is best to do for your issue. I choice to replace the part with a $0.21 part instead of purchasing a $336 mirror assemble from Jeep. That is what I was quoted at the dealer before labor. Still waiting to hear back about this being covered under warranty, I'm not holding my breath.

Now I have no check engine light and I can use my A/C. Now I have mentioned that 4WD function can be lost and I've seen that in pre 2015 Renegade (which is the older models) videos for P0073 issues. It has not been verified in mine, but I think it is something to watch out for.
 

Attachments

#95 ·
Check Engine Code: P0073 P0073 Ambient Air Temperature Sensor Circuit High

Step 1:
Purchase a cheap 10K thermistor. The one in the photo cost $0.21/each. Mine is a larger tolerance and higher Beta range, but it is working for my Jeep. This a dumb simple little sensor that should not cost much to replace or be a lot of work. I've read main other forums of people going to dealers and having many issues. Vehicles should not be hard to fix. People should also learn how to be independent of the dealer and fix their own issues.

Step 2:
Remove the cap on the mirror housing, you do not have to remove the mirror from the door. Cut off the OEM sensor wires as soon. The photo shows the sensor out of the mirror housing. This is so I could look at it as I explored options. I did place it back in the housing so that the mirror appeared OEM from the outside and keep the hole in the housing blocked as OEM. If you are doing this, just cut the wires

Step 3:
Attach the thermistor to striped wires where the out sensor was cut off. I did test the thermistor before soldering to make sure it worked. My Jeep is currently reading 2-3 degrees F from surrounding thermometers and weather apps. I would suggest testing the thermistor you get like this to make sure it works for you. Make sure to slip on the heat shrink before soldering.

Step 4: Finish the heat shrinking so that the wires can not touch. I added a larger heat shrink tube over both wires and wrapped it in electrical tape. Ziptied the new sensor to the wiring loom to keep high and dry. This appears to be the cleanest place inside the mirror housing.

Step 5: Clear the engine check code.

This is just my findings and modifications I did. It is up to you figure out what is best to do for your issue. I choice to replace the part with a $0.21 part instead of purchasing a $336 mirror assemble from Jeep. That is what I was quoted at the dealer before labor. Still waiting to hear back about this being covered under warranty, I'm not holding my breath.

Now I have no check engine light and I can use my A/C. Now I have mentioned that 4WD function can be lost and I've seen that in pre 2015 Renegade (which is the older models) videos for P0073 issues. It has not been verified in mine, but I think it is something to watch out for.
Thank you for sharing. I didn't follow all the steps, just replaced the thermistor, after my mechanic told me that in 90% cases it is that. Replacing the thermistor worked on a 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk. I found that searching for "NTE Electronics 02-N103-2" worked well for finding the thermistor for sale.
 
#78 ·
Believe it. It was probably a rush design job to get this thing to market. The renegade is based off a Fiat chassis, the 500x I believe. If this was purely a re-skin job, all the sensors and technology probably didn't change. It's cheaper and faster, taking very little thought into making the design better.

Time to start saving up and trade this thing in next year. Time to switch back to Volkswagen. An Atlas is looking pretty good.
 
#80 ·
Outside Temp Sensor



The outside temp sensor is located at the bottom of the right side view door mirror! Don't ask me why they put it there.Usually the sensor is located in the front. When you are parked the sun heats up the mirror housing and it reads 10 to 15 degrees more!I had readings upto 104 when the outside temp was 90! I took it to the dealer and they ordered a new mirror (as usual you cant just swap the sensor! The entire mirror housing has to be swapped) but it didn't make any difference. Its a design flaw and you have to drive a few minutes until the mirror housing cools down!

ArvindNC
 
#81 · (Edited)
The outside temp sensor is located at the bottom of the right side view door mirror! Don't ask me why they put it there.Usually the sensor is located in the front. When you are parked the sun heats up the mirror housing and it reads 10 to 15 degrees more!I had readings upto 104 when the outside temp was 90! I took it to the dealer and they ordered a new mirror (as usual you cant just swap the sensor! The entire mirror housing has to be swapped) but it didn't make any difference. Its a design flaw and you have to drive a few minutes until the mirror housing cools down!

ArvindNC

Wingmirror temp sensors have been a thing for nigh-on 30 years now.
Not really a design flaw.


If your dealer swapped your wingmirror because of it getting hot under the sun I hope they didn't charge you for that.

Post #97 shows how to fix actual duff ones for a few cents.
But as posted before, first thing to do is clean the door loom connector.
 
#84 ·
Justice
Registered




Joined 18 hours ago

2 Posts






Discussion Starter • #1 18 hours ago



I have a 2015 jeep renegade. It sometimes won't start usually the first time, after that it mostly starts + the dash gives odd false readings (26 degreesin FL?). There are no fault codes retained. it has been checked 4 times last year. I can't be w/o it starting. Now they want to replace the mirror????
 
#85 ·
This is an old thread and this has been mentioned before but I am going to bring it up again because it is a serious safety issue. When the ambient air temp sensor under the passenger side mirror fails it will disable the drive modes and the auto start, it will has cause the HVAC to not work properly. I found this out other day when I was driving while it was -10 F outside and went to put my 2015 TH into snow mode and it did not work. I noticed the service engine light came on and the outside temp was reading -- I got the code checked and it was P0073 ambient temp sensor. Today the temperature was above freezing and the error code was gone and everything was working again. This also happens with several other parts on the car when it is extremely cold out. I do not have a garage so I am not going to try a take apart the mirror and atempt to pull out the sensor and replace it when it is 5 degrees out. So now I have to decide to live with it and hope it does not happen to often or have the dealer put in a new mirror with the same crappy parts and wait for it to happen again. This is a known issue and the dealer told me today they have replaced several mirrors because of it. I use the drive modes, I had to park in behind my house the the other day and to get there I had drive up a step driveway then through over a foot of fresh snow. I hope one day they come up with a real fix or a forced recall to fix it.
 
#96 ·
Need some help !!! my ambient air temperature sensor is reading at 35c when its 0c outside but when reading online where my sensor is ones says behind the grill front bumper then others say passenger side wing mirror
i have a 2015 renegade sport diesel 1.6 multi jet its keeps setting off the check engine light and stopping my stop start system
 
#98 ·
Not sure anyone still reads this old thread, but I did the Thermistor replacement about a week ago and my temp has been within 2 degrees of what my phone states. It's easy to do with just a limited soldier skills. I followed this YouTube video. I did however seal my back-up with hot glue and trimmed the wires, so they fit inside the original casing.
Part number 02-N103-2, bought on Amazon.
So now instead of outside temperature always reading 20 to 30 degrees higher than actual temperature, it reads correct.

 
#99 ·
I had the same temp sensor issue. sensor finally failed . there is a tiny electronic part called a thyristor . in order to replace sensor the whole mirror assembly must be relaced . expensive . the temp sensor (thyrisstor) caused an "engine " light alarm. this disabled the FWD and AC. The solution wa replacing the electronic part . a 2 dollar part off e-bay. here is a utube video fyi
 
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