What is this sensor directly below and slightly to the right of the coolant temp. gauge sender??

I recently replaced my distributor+cap and set the timing. When I removed my distributor a bunch of oil came out and bathed this sensor. I wiped it as clean as I could, but didnt remove it and clean the inside assuming it would be ok. I now have a CEL and my idle is bouncing from 600-1500. It might be a vacuum leak, but I can't find any leaks anywhere...thanks in advance.

 

fan switch ?

 

hmmm...my fan is operating fine. But then again this sensor may not have anything to do with my idle freaking out.

 

you will probably get faster results at this time of the day just by looking it up on google or something.

 

lol, yeah I'm not sure what to look up. "sensor below distributor"

 

pretty sure its the coolent temp sensor that the ecu uses.

 

hmmm...I wonder if a faulty one of these would cause a lumpy idle. the thing is, that it only bounces when its warm. I will clean this thing tomorrow+iacv+adjust timing+ad the little coolant that it needs and we'll see what happens.

Note: My idle also seems to stabilize when my fan comes on...??

 

that sensor is for the water temp- gauge on your gaugecluster.
if you unplug it, your temp gauge will drop all the way to cold on the gaugecluster.

 

The temp gauge sensor is pointed out above the sensor I am referring to.

 

my bad -

i think its the oil temp sensor-(not oil press)

its not the fan sensor/switch. (that is on the back of the block.)

what code are you getting out of your ecu???

 

http://autorepair.about.com/li...0.gif


i dont know if this will help.

 

the temp gauge sensor is on the thermostat water neck on back of motor.

oil pressure is on back of motor

 

they are both coolant temp sensors, the one at the front of the motor is the one for the gauge and the other one should be for the temp sensor for the fan. i dont think it would cause the idle fluctuation, do you just have a cel or are you throwing a code?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 55superbeetle &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pretty sure its the coolent temp sensor that the ecu uses.</TD></TR></TABLE>
he is right. the single wire one is for the guage, the fan switch is on the back or on the thermostat housing. its the temp sensor for the ecu. check the cel

 

Thanks for the info. I checked the sensor and the pins inside were clean. I fixed my idle fluctuation by disconnecting the EACV and resetting my idle. It took a couple of tries though.