Cliff notes at bottom

So around the first of the year I went through my DIC before driving just to check my temp and make sure it was good and I saw a "---". Thought that was weird but after driving that night it was back to normal. A few months later, Feb 15th exactly, I was on vacation and my check engine light came on. I filled up and it went away and I assumed it was gas related, my Jetta used to throw a check engine light all the time and it seemed to be related to a recent fill-up everytime. Over the next few months, until now, the check engine light came on a few times and always went away within a few days.

A week ago my check engine light came on and I happened to check the DIC and it showed "---". I went to a local parts store and they read it for me and said that the check engine light was due to something like "engine temp lower than normal operating temp". I went to the local dealership, which I have never been to before and they told me that since I now had 40,000 miles that my warranty was over but I may qualify for a "goodwill" repair of some kind if I paid a $120 diagnostic fee. If I paid the fee they may be able to get the repair done under my warranty, maybe charging me a 50-100 dollar "goodwill" fee.

This feels like a loose wire or something the way that it comes and goes. Anybody have any feedback or ideas? Run into this before? Is it something I can fix or would the dealership be the best idea? Any help would be appreciated, thanks!


Cliff Notes: Check engine light is for low operating temp, car DIC temp reads "---" sometimes but not often. Help!

Bump! Anybody?

 

never had that but yeah id check your wires for your coolant temp sensor for sure.

 

i'm not 100% on this but i have powertrain til 60k, seeing that our cars cannot properly operate without coolant i would think that it would be powertrain related. i could be on crack. just my logic kicking in.

don't pay those bullshit fees. cause chances are whatever it is is a cheap fix. i had problems with my coolant and i researched the parts. not a single thing cost more than $50. so the 120 diag plus 50-100 goodwill repair charge is complete crap.


have you had any ECU work done? tunes? new pcm? anything like that?

sometimes things like that cause your DIC to go nuts

 

Get it scanned and post the exact code, not the description but the letter and 4 digits followed afterward. Anyone with a factory service manual can tell you the diagnostic steps to take if the correct DTC number is posted.

 

No tunes, and no ecu work on the car. When I get a chance I will get the code, thanks for everyones help!

 

hate it when my dic goes nuts.

 

P0128, right? Mine does the same thing once in a while. Can't help with the DIC though.

 

Heres a link thats a near direct copy of the FSM to help with diagnosing P0128.

http://www.hotrodlane.cc/New%20LS%20...TC%20P0128.htm

 

Yeah that was the code p0128, thanks for the responses, I hadn't check his thread until today after I got the code and it was allready posted!

Any ideas on the DIC reading --- ? Could it be a bad thermostat making it read that? Or could the DIC malfunction be causing the check engine light?

Edit- It only happens about once every couple of weeks than goes away and the light goes off shortly after. I'm not 100% but it seems like my fan is still coming on like normal and is always wihin normal temps when the DIC is working properly

 

Not a bad thermostat, its the coolant temperature sensor or the wires going to it. The dic gets no signal from the temp sensor it displays ---. No temp sensor means the ecu has no idea what the engine temperature really is so don't be surprised if you are getting worse gas mileage as well.
Also, if there is no engine temperature info available, the rad fans should come on and, iirc, the air conditioning will not work.

Like blackbolt89 points out, this should be covered under the powertrain warranty. Don't let them "dic" you around

 

Thanks for all the info! You're right about the gas mileage I reset it last week while it was having a problem and I was getting 16 mpg instead of the usual 29. Now that it's back to normal again it's back up to 28 or so.

I'm going to call the dealership right now wish me luck! I didn't think this would be powertrain since it was wiring related but I hope so

 

even if its not powertrain it is covered under the 36k mile bumper to bumper warranty.

 

Car has 40000 miles now so bumper to bumper is evidently not an option

So I called 2 dealerships and both said that it's not covered under powertrain, that it only covers internal engine components.

So I guess paying the diagnostic fee and hoping they will fix the rest under some sort of "goodwill" as I was told before seems to be my best option right now

Any other ideas?

I'm at work so I'm on my phone for internet but a quick search showed a new engine temp sensor being a 20 dollar part, if I found the right one that is. I'm not very experienced with cars but would this be an easy fix? To check the wiring and maybe replace this part? Where is it even found on the engine? Sorry for the ignorance and thanks for the help

 

Never looked for the one on the ecotec but they are typically at or near the thermostat housing.
Should be a very easy job to swap out but you will have to drain some coolant out....or let it run out of the hole if you don't mind the mess.

Don't forget to top up and bleed the cooling system afterwards

 

My thermostat was covered under the 6/60 powertrain. I work at a dealership and asked my service manager this. He looked into it with GM and found out its covered.

The P0128 and dashes on the DIC for coolant temp are related. Clear the P0128 and the display comes back. I'm assuming this is because the PCM isn't sure if the coolant temp is accurate. I also noticed that the A/C wouldn't turn on.

Anyways, there's a new design thermostat in service that seems to be built quite a bit better.

 

Check the temp sensor connections. Sometimes it can get knocked loose or the sensor gets damaged.

 

Anyone have a part number for engine temperature sensor for a 2.2 2007? I'm finding a couple and now sure which is the right one

I found 213-4333 and also 213-4514

Thanks!

 

My car just started to do this. its an 06 2.4

 

So a little update and a question, I recently had the engine temperature sensor replaced thinking this was the answer to the problem but after a week or so I started the car and sure enough engine temp read ---. Looks like I'm back where I started, anyone have any other ideas? What's the next step, check the wiring from the temp sensor to wherever it goes? Any other ideas on solutions? Thanks

 

Bump

Anyone have any experience with this or possible solutions? I'm not sure what to do next and I would like to take care of this asap. I don't want this to go on or cause anymore problems. Help! And thanks in advance!

 

Take it back to the dealer who replaced the temp sensor and let them sort it out under warranty.

 

Cars not under warranty has 40,000 miles. I bought temp sensor from dealer, had a friend who manages an oil change shop put it in.

Any other ideas? Thanks!!

 

take it to the dealer and have them diag it might be a pcm if it is then you are covered under your federal emissions warranty to have them replace it