iamrolling
New member
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2019
I shotgun replaced my coolant temperature sensor trying to stop the car from dumping so much fuel into the engine. I know, I should have tested it. But it cost next to nothing, and is one of those SU-5817s sold by AutoZone. I assumed it would work adequately and fit well.
It did work, and the exhaust smells much better. And I got it the old one out and new one in with much less trouble than expected. I removed nothing. Just stuck a 19mm deep well 12 point bolt rounder in there on a 3/8 ratchet, done in under 10 minutes.
The problems happened trying to plug it in. I push the connector onto the sensor, and the clip never retracted. You could just pull the harness connector right off with a slight tug. How did they screw up an EV1 connector so bad?
Not wanting to drain the coolant again, I went about modifying it in place. With a series of small files and razor blades, I shaved a bit off the end of the sensor's connector plastic and also the flat side of the tabs. I also removed the rubber rectangle from the bottom of the harness connector. After a painful hour, it finally clicked into place. Once again, I learned that I should have spent the extra few bucks for a Bosch part.
I can probably shave down the side tabs a bit more and fit the rubber piece back in, but that's where I have questions. Should I even put that thing back in? It's definitely failed, because the harness terminals were corroded when I found them. Is it possible to buy new ones that aren't so hardened? Could I just lightly paint the bottom of the connector with an RTV silicone, or would that cause other issues in the future?
It did work, and the exhaust smells much better. And I got it the old one out and new one in with much less trouble than expected. I removed nothing. Just stuck a 19mm deep well 12 point bolt rounder in there on a 3/8 ratchet, done in under 10 minutes.
The problems happened trying to plug it in. I push the connector onto the sensor, and the clip never retracted. You could just pull the harness connector right off with a slight tug. How did they screw up an EV1 connector so bad?
Not wanting to drain the coolant again, I went about modifying it in place. With a series of small files and razor blades, I shaved a bit off the end of the sensor's connector plastic and also the flat side of the tabs. I also removed the rubber rectangle from the bottom of the harness connector. After a painful hour, it finally clicked into place. Once again, I learned that I should have spent the extra few bucks for a Bosch part.
I can probably shave down the side tabs a bit more and fit the rubber piece back in, but that's where I have questions. Should I even put that thing back in? It's definitely failed, because the harness terminals were corroded when I found them. Is it possible to buy new ones that aren't so hardened? Could I just lightly paint the bottom of the connector with an RTV silicone, or would that cause other issues in the future?