I’d like to thank NYbo for his advice about my temperature gauge problem… Probably caused by the coolant temperature sensor…
I’ve done some work on my car before but I’ve never changed the coolant temperature sensor before… I found some priced from $30 to $45…
One question (hope it doesn’t sound too dumb)… where is it? One internet source said it was on the passenger side under the hood tho I didn’t see anything that looked like it…
Will the coolant temperature sensor being
malfunctioning cause my car to overheat in the next couple of days? (Car never overheated before after 5 years)…
Thanks again!
I’m not familiar w/ your particular car. I’d imagine it’s fairly simplistic, mechanically… but if it’s like most others, it’s likely to have a multitude of coolant temp sensors. One in/around your intake manifold for the ECU, and one or two in the radiator for the fans. HOWEVER, after reviewing your previous thread abt your temp gauge, I’m assuming what you’re talking about is the Coolant Temp Sender- which connects to the gauge in your dash.
If that is indeed what you’re talking about, then no, the car won’t overheat b/c of it, but if it did overheat for some other reason, then you probably wouldn’t know it was getting hot b/c the gauge wouldn’t register it properly.
The sender looks like this:
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/getimage.php?imageurl=http%3A//www.standardbrand.com/web_app/catalog/images/TS198.jpg
But keep in mind, the bottom half of it is screwed inside the manifold, so you wouldn’t see it, plus, the electrical clip should be stuck onto the top half. More than likely, it’ll be somewhere around the ECU’s Temp Sensor, which looks like this:
http://info.rockauto.com/getimage/getimage.php?imageurl=http%3A//info.rockauto.com/Airtex/5S1517.jpg
so examine the pics so you know the difference and don’t replace the wrong one.
** I might also suggest that you first clean the electrical connector- maybe apply some dielectric grease too- and see if that makes a difference in your gauge reading before replacing the actual sending unit.
This is where www.autozone.com says it is: (click on) http://www.autozone.com/R,LOC2322/shopping/locsSelect.htm
Why don’t you have the repair manual? It shows a lot of this stuff.