water temperature sensor

[pisano]

i took mine out and put a water temperature gauge in the hole instead, now after reading ive found the ecm actually takes into account what the water temp is. is it ok to do what i did or should i put the old one back?

i dont have a scantool yet but after seeing how sweet they are and handy i will get one in about a week or so

i thought the sensor was just to make that temperature symbol light up in your car when it overheats, but after reading and reading and reading lol i think the computer needs to know?

 

[novaderrik]

there are 2 different sensors- one that triggers the temp light about 5 minutes after it does any good to know that something's going wrong, and another that tells the ecm how hot the engine is running..
the one for the light has a single green wire going to it and is on the front of the water crossover in the intake behind the water pump, i believe, and the one that the ecm looks at is on the top of the coolant crossover and has 2 wires (yellow and black, i think?) going to it.
you can remove the one for the light and put the gauge sender there. there is also another undrilled boss right next to the important one that would make a great place to put a sending unit if you could drill it and tap it without getting any aluminum chunks into the coolant.

 

[pisano]

i lost the original but i got one from the junkyard from the car i took my ecm out of, the sensor looks exactly the same and the yellow and black plugs right into it, do you think it should be ok?

 

[pisano]

my car has been running very sloppy and i think its cause im using a stock 87 chip in it, i ordered a turbo tweak chip and should be here in 2-3 days