My outside temerature gauge used to work and now has gone crazy - it now shows temperatures of 50 C and more. Tried to find the outside sensor behind the front license plate and in general behind the bumper but can not find any wiring or sensor. Where can it be?

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1986 300E

your looking in the right place attached is the manual page for your vehicle

Attached Files

54-6341.pdf (50.1 KB, 979 views)

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Jerry

2004 SL500 Black 55K Miles
2002 s500 Black 90K Miles
1986 300E Gold 233K Miles
1966 Twin Cessna 320D
1989 Jeep Cherokee 233K Miles
1994 Ford Van E150 399K Miles

The sensor is fastened onto one of the screws (left screw if you're facing the bumper) that holds the license plate frame in place....black in color.

Actually, I believe the dash unit is more prone to problems than the actual sensor. I went through the trouble to replace the sensor and painstakenly routed it like OEM, only it still yielded the same results...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

In the earlier W124's the outside temperature sensor is mounted on the bumper on the left hand side of the bumper. I've always removed the sensor when taking off the bumper, I'm not sure the sensor can be removed without removing the bumper.

Removing the bumpercover just behind the license plate will reveal a hole large enough to get the sensor out from the bumper...the rest of the looming process is a little trickier.

As I stated earlier from experience, it's usually the dash indicator that goes bad, not the sensor wire...

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2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Did all that and removed the rubber cover from the hole but did not see a sensor or any wiring.

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1986 300E

Interesting...perhaps thats why its not working I'd check behind the bumper to see if the sensor has become lodged back there. My car was doing about the same thing (displaying 136F or nothing at all) and it was the sensor. I replaced it with a $1.00 3k thermistor and it has worked well ever since.

I'm having problems also with my S320 outside air temp. On my old W126 it was right behind the license plate and was pretty obvious. Does anyone know where it is on this car? The only thing that looks remotely like it is mounted vertically between the two fans and looks like a lipstick case with green and brown wires. Is that it or should I keep looking?