engine coolant sensor? eclipse and talon?

dsmkidd20 · Apr 10, 2010

ok so yesterday i whent to autozone to get a new engine coolant temp sensor, so i got the new one(it was like $13.99) so today i whent to go and put it in and i look at the wire connectors and they are different. so i take the old ECT out and i look at the new one and the end looks fat and short and i look at the old one and its long and skinny. so not only are the connectors different but they dont even look the same. so im going to go and return it but before i do i go on the website and see that it is the right sensor for my car. so im at a loss for word, then i think ok let me try 96 eclipse(same year same motor) and the sensor for the eclipse is the one i need for my talon, weird. any reason why that would be like that. is my motor from a eclipse?

ThEDrEaMEnDeR · Apr 11, 2010

id say its very possible that you have an eclipse 4g and its also possible that autozone gave you the wrong one(their fail) my advice would be to take the old one in and make sure its right when you take it back

dsmkidd20 · Apr 11, 2010

here is a picture of the 96 talon tsi 4cyl turbo engine coolant temp sensor

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and here is the engine temp sensor that was in my talon, its a 96 eclipse 4cyl turbo but it dont say if its a gst or gsx but here is the picture

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timmmyg · Apr 11, 2010

Go to another store. I had the same issue. Went to Advance they gave me the one with the fat prong and it didn't work. Same code and car would overheat. I actually got the correct one at AutoZone and it worked fine. Make sure it looks like your oem one.

tturbolife1 · May 19, 2010

i have a 6bolt swap. and i have one sensor that looks like the top picture and one that looks like tha bottem also. and i have this code. which one is the one i need to replace?

p.s my fans are constantly on.

96mitsugsx · May 19, 2010

Go back to autozone and try radiator fan switch.

DSMified92 · May 19, 2010

just wondering did u pull the original one out of the bottom of the thermostat housing or from the water neck itself.

tturbolife1 · May 19, 2010

the top sensor picture was broken so i bought one for a 98 eclipse but didnt fit in the 6bolt t-houseing.so with some enlargers from a local hardware store it fit but the cel didnt go away. so now i see that my fans are always on. im thinking its the bottem sensor, it came with the 6bolt its 91 but i can plug the 98 harness to it. should i change that?

JD98GSX · May 20, 2010

Also a good explaination for this confussion. Would be it depends on the build date. A 96' car could have been built in 95'. but it came out later in the year, so they call it a 96'. don't know why this is, but the auto industry has been doing that for years.

steve · May 20, 2010

dsmkidd20 said:
here is a picture of the 96 talon tsi 4cyl turbo engine coolant temp sensor
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and here is the engine temp sensor that was in my talon, its a 96 eclipse 4cyl turbo but it dont say if its a gst or gsx but here is the picture
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The first is the sensor for the temp gauge.
The second is the engine coolant temp sensor for the ECU on a 2G.

Blurred Talon · May 20, 2010

steve said:
The first is the sensor for the temp gauge.
The second is the engine coolant temp sensor for the ECU on a 2G.

Glad you posted it.
The second sensor with the harness plug is what usually causes the CEL and is referred to as the CTS (coolant temp sensor).

steve · May 20, 2010

Blurred Talon said:
is referred to as the CTS (coolant temp sensor).

Only by DSM newbies, new and old. :banghead:

It's called the Engine Coolant Temp Sensor in the FSM or ECT sensor if you going to abbreviate it. There are several other coolant temp sensors in the car so ECT sensor is specific to the one the ECU uses.

tturbolife1 · May 25, 2010

i found out that the senor was fine it was the harness that was bad.

so slow 420 · Feb 21, 2015

i have just gotton a aftermarket gauge for my 2g eclipse can i splice the temp gauge wire and run off that.instead of the engine coolant temp cause that goes to the ecu.

synthetek · Feb 21, 2015

so slow 420 said:
i have just gotton a aftermarket gauge for my 2g eclipse can i splice the temp gauge wire and run off that.instead of the engine coolant temp cause that goes to the ecu.

You will need to use the sensor that came with your gauge.

so slow 420 · Feb 21, 2015

the sencor that came with my gauge threads in to turns and get tight i think it is slight to big looks the same as the original gauge tho

luv2rallye · Feb 21, 2015

You can get away with using the 1 wire temp gauge sensor that came with the car if it has the same resistance curve (vs. temp) as the one that came with your new gauge. Car's one is 104 (+/-13.5) ohms when coolant is 158*F. Value increases when temp decreases (ie. at temp lower than 158* value is more than 104 ohms).

so slow 420 · Feb 21, 2015

Thanks luv 2 rallye so if my sencor is the same I can tap into the wire and where would the best place b to mount gauge since my pillar pod is full I thought maybe center console under radio using a round saw

synthetek · Feb 21, 2015

You cant tap into the wire, if your going to try and connect the new gauge to the sensor you will have to disconnect the old one or you will change the resistance and it wont read correctly.

so slow 420 · Feb 21, 2015

So can I disconect the original wire to sencor tape it off and just u my aftermarket gauge wire n just run it to the sencor n so on thanks

streetraceboi · Feb 21, 2015

Holy 5 year old thread revival

1990dsmkid · Feb 21, 2015

For best accuracy, use the sending unit made for the gauge.

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engine coolant sensor? eclipse and talon?

dsmkidd20

ThEDrEaMEnDeR

dsmkidd20

timmmyg

tturbolife1

96mitsugsx

DSMified92

tturbolife1

JD98GSX

steve

Blurred Talon

steve

tturbolife1

so slow 420

synthetek

so slow 420

luv2rallye

so slow 420

synthetek

so slow 420

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1990dsmkid

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