Honda-Tech - Honda Forum Discussion - coolant temperature reading on 2013 Accord seems faulty

I just bought a 2013 Accord LX, with 2.4L I4 engine. It has about 129K miles on it. I am located in Ohio and we are having some very cold weather since I bought the car on Feb 27. Temperatures have been down in the teens overnight a few times since my car purchase. I've noticed, based on the temperature gauge, that the engine takes an abnormally long time to reach normal operating temperature. Actually, it seems to never fully reach normal operating temperature. For example, last night, I drove to the local Kroger (a supermarket, for those who don't know) store, which is only about a mile from where I live in a small Ohio city. That only takes a few minutes, so I was not concerned about the temp not getting up to normal operating temp by the time I parked at Kroger. I was in the store about a half hour, so the engine would have cooled down during that time but probably still retained some warmth from the drive to the store. I then drove home; again, only about a mile. The temp gauge needle was still barely touching the bottom marker on the Cold-to-Hot scale on the gauge. So, as sat in the car in the driveway and left the engine running while I listened to the radio. After about 14-15 minutes of continuous running since I left Kroger, the needle on the gauge was higher on the scale but still significantly below midpoint on the gauge, the midpoint being where I would expect the needle be after the engine has had time to reach normal operating temp.

So, I was suspecting the thermostat valve was stuck in open position and that replacing the thermostat would solve the issue. And so, I had the thermostat replaced today by a local auto repair shop. I was there while the work was being done and saw it being done. The engine was warm when the mechanic worked on the car and he ran the engine for 10 minutes or longer after replacing the thermostat. But, the temp gauge needle did not go any higher than it did before replacing the thermostat. The mechanic had an Infrared Thermometer Gun. He tested the temperature of air coming out of the heater; this indicated that the heater was producing a normal level of heat. Similarly, he determined that the engine, near the thermostat and water hose, seemed to be reaching a normal temperature.

At this point, the mechanic mentioned a sensor as possibly being the culprit. Since additional work beyond replacing the thermostat was not in the plans for this visit to the repair shop, that was the end of work done today. I did not discuss the sensor further with the mechanic. So, I'm posting this message here to seek some info about a possible sensor issue. Is the sensor the mechanic mentioned a part that is screwed into the engine block, with a wire connecting it to the instrument panel in the dash board? I am familiar this on older cars. I have not yet noticed such a sensor on this 2013 Accord. Is that type of sensor what I should be able to find on the engine? Or, has the older type of sensor been replaced with some electronic part(s)?