Coolant sensor resistance

[othatseric]

So I read from the Bentley manual, the Coolant temp sensor resistance when it's cold is suppose to be around 3k ohm give or take. I tested mine today and the ambient was around 5 degrees Celsius and the resistance on mine was at 5.3k ohms. I kept re testing it cause I didn't believe what I was seeing but it kept coming up. Is this cause for concern or is the higher resistance due to the lower temperature?

Thanks!
-Eric

[othatseric]

Just to add I didn't bother testing it when the car was idling, I had the whole intake system off :p

[bmwman91]

Chances are that it is fine. If it was bad it would most likely read as open circuit / high impedance. These are just NTC (negative temperature coefficient) thermistors. Their resistance increases as they get colder. Where did you get the 3K value from, and at what temperature is that resistance specified? If I had to guess, if the manual says that it should read 3K, that is probably at 25 degC. It would then make sense to read 5.3K at 5 degC.