Ambient temperature reading

Has the sensor reported over 100 temperatures without problem before?

 

It is a simple easy sensor to replace it’s just plugged into the end of a wiring harness behind your bumper grill area it’s a simple disconnect and reconnect the new one if needed

 

Maybe the 100 degrees was off?

 

mine has always taken an hour or so to reach the reported temp outside

 

That's what I was thinking.

 

Mine is quite slow to change and settle, but not anywhere near that long.

And I don't go by internet or news reports of temperature, because large differences is very short distances are quite normal. A 5 degree difference between my front porch and back yard is not at all unusual.

 

we have 2 thermometers. they are always within a degree or two, and usually the same.

the car readout is usually the same as those two. but if i leave the semi conditioned garage on a hot day, 30-45 minutes later, it can still read 10 degrees below the other two.

 

I always have to wonder: how far away is that 'internet' thermometer? Feet, or miles? How different is that microclimate or microcell today compared to my location?

Also, what is its elevation difference from me? With a dry air adiabatic lapse rate of 5.4°F/1000 feet (less for wet air), elevation changes can quickly add significant differences too.

 

The sensor is shaded behind the front bumper. Have you tried sticking one of the thermometers from the house in there next to the sensor, letting them sit for a while, then comparing the readings?

 

Nearly always? Or just sometimes?

My home thermometers can match the several different 'internet' thermometers near here too, 2 to 20+ miles away. But they can also be very different. Numerous weather cells have smaller dimensions than those distances, sometimes much smaller.

 

From just a very few data points, I hope that you are not suggesting that the former implies the later.

 

Or this is one more Prius Chat “the sky is falling” RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!!!!!!!! . .

 

In my general experience on a hot day, the sensor reads higher on start up. Sitting over hot pavement, the space where the sensor is tucked away gets hotter. Once moving, the display comes down as the hot air is flushed away.

So your sensor could have been hotter that the reported temperature, which pushed it over its high limit. High temps could have also loosened a connection.