As of late the coolant temperature gauge on my car has been dropping to the bottom of the gauge occasionally. This changes after restarting and it goes to the normal position (ie centre). When the gauge "misbehaves" the idles speed raises slightly and there is some flare in the transmission when moving away from rest. When the gauge reads normal everything runs perfect.

Any ideas what the problem is.

My car is a 2010 TDV8 with 60,000km on the clock.

Dodgy engine coolant temp sensor, when not reading temp, engine thinks it's cold so idles faster to warm up quicker. Pure guess but at $15 for a new one worth a shot.

Cheers
Col

https://www.rrsport.co.uk/forum/topic56544.html

I have checked the car and there are no recorded codes for the temperature excurtions or any faults recorded in any of the modules.

I have ordered the coolant temperature sensor and the oil temperature sensor ex UK. Non available in Australia. In fact the oil temp sender (original Landrover part) was not available anywhere.

I am expecting three weeks delivery (by courier). Its a good thing that I dont need the parts urgently.

thought of ordering a thermostat too?

I replaced the oil temperature sensor on the weekend. It was a relatively easy job apart from the sensor connector which had a strange release mechanism. It took a while to work out how to release the connector.

The oil temperature sensor requires a 29mm ring spanner or deep socket to remove it. I did not have either but used a 30mm ring spanner which worked fine. I could not find a torque figure for refitting the sensor but it has a similar seal to the sump plug, so I tightened it up to a snug fit plus a bit.

Replacing the oil temperature sensor appears to have fixed the problem - not sure how it affects the coolant temperature gauge.

My vehicle was due for its annual oil change which was timely.

I had ordered a coolant temperature sensor as well but could not find out where it was located in the engine bay and I did not feel like pulling things apart to find it.