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Aka Coolant Temperature Sensor. And if a auto parts store doesnt know what a Water Thermo Sensor is.. dont buy anything from them. They dont know their a-- from a hole in the ground and are just as likely to sell you the wrong part. Call a different store or order it online from http://www.rockauto.com Cheers

Tunes67

Thanks a lot Tunes67. You have been a BIG help.

Well just picked up the engine coolant temperature sensor. $40 CAD. looks like it will be an easy install too. Cant wait for 5 oclock to roll around so i can try this baby out.

Ordered a set of these Splitfire Triple Platinum plugs.

http://www.splitfire.com/triple.htm

$7.99 CAD ea.

Fuel Economy Tips did a spark plug review (link below) with standard NGK plugs as the control. Splitfire were the only ones to show signifigant increase in accelleration and MPG over the standard NGKs.

http://www.fueleconomytips.com/index.ph ... &Itemid=50

Well the coolant temperature sensor they gave me at the store was the wrong one. they gave me a 2 wire one for the SOHC engine. The one on my engine is a 1 wire sensor and the threading was way different.

I did clear the ECU codes. Engine light came on during the way home. Checked the codes and its only showing 9 now. Water Thermo Sensor.. so looks like the new o2 sensor is working properly at least.

Tomorow i will return the sohc thermo sensor and hopefully get my hands on the proper one along with my new spark plugs which should also be in.

filled up the tank to check the MPG on the last 150km I drove. 19 MPG up from 17 MPG and I was driving like a crazy person the last few days all city driving. Cant wait for next fill up to see if there is a big difference.

The one wire sensor is the sending unit for the temparature gauge. The two wire sensor is the actual water thermo sensor that sends the engine temparature to ecu. It is located at a different location for SOHC.

Temparature sender has 1 pin and looks like this


ECT has 2 pin connector and looks like this


For the SOHC engine the sensor is located here ...


That picture is from an old thread posted by somebody else -
http://www.mx-3.com/phpbb2/viewtopic.ph ... sor#314436


** You need to replace the water/coolant thermo sensor because that is the one connected to the ECU **

I have DOHC engine.. is that the same position as the SOHC B6?

ariesdude: thanks found the connector right beside the first injector. green connector. its back pretty far and hard to get at.. and i dont have any tools with me right now until I can goto my fathers shop tomorow.

by the time im finished fixing this car the rust will have eaten the entire thing.

For DOHC - its below the distributor next to the radiator hose/thermostat area. Its kinda in an awkward position - but its very easy to get to - that was one of the first things i did and it took me only 10 mins. Coolant spills out when you unscrew it - so dont do it when the engine is hot and/or take proper precautions. The online manual page F1-162 explains the whole thing.

The green plug you found next to the injector is most likely for the fuel pressure regualtor.

the sensor next to the distributer was a one wire. and shaped a lot differently then the two pictures shown. the probe end was longer and thinner and had a rounded silver top.

Tunes67 wrote:

and check engine light flashing on and off

Have you tried pulling CEL codes to see what is indicated? Easy to do and will help prevent you from running off on wild goose chases when trying to figure out what is malfunctioning.

Tunes67

Hey, I'm having the exact same problem as him, and my check engine light kept flashing alot. I mean, my car doesn't seem to fluctuate as much as it used to, just if I'm running my A/C or I mess with some controls. So, what is this CEL code thing?

Maybe i have a SOHC engine and dont even know it...

Hey, I'm having the exact same problem as him, and my check engine light kept flashing alot. I mean, my car doesn't seem to fluctuate as much as it used to, just if I'm running my A/C or I mess with some controls. So, what is this CEL code thing?

back behind your battery against the firewall is a little black diagnostics box, open the lid and you will see some terminal connections, this is where a mechanic would hook up their diagnostic computer. You can get the CEL codes by taking a wire and jumpering the 10 and GND pins.

Then turn your ignition to the 'ON' Position (Dont actually turn over the engine). All the console lights will turn on. Wait a few seconds and the CEL light should turn off.. wait a few more seconds and it should start flashing on and off. Count the number of flashes and refer to the shop manual to find which error codes the ECU is throwing. The CEL codes will keep cycling over and over again. If there are more then one code there will be a pause of a few seconds and then the next code will begin to flash. For instance there were 2 codes stored on my ECU: 9: Water Thermo Sensor and 17: O2 Sensor (inversion). So it flashed quick flashes, then paused for a few seconds then 1 long flash and 7 quick flashes then pause..... and back to the 9 quick flashes... and so on and so on.

Went a little indepth but i found it hard to find information when i first tried doing this.


Check out this PDF linked to on Grants page:

http://www.eunos30x.com/info/CEL%20Code ... mplete.pdf

It shows the procedure and pins layout of the diagnostic box so you know which ones are GND and 10

Hope that helps.. It is really easy.. just need a few inches of wire, a flashlight and 2 mins of your time.

BTW im pretty sure i have a SOHC....

coming from someone that just learned what DOHC and SOHC stood for..

Im such a newb.... so it is between the first and second injector.

Ok, sweet. Thanks corban