Hey guys. Im sorta at a kathunk here. Took and went to change the ECT sensor and after I got it out realized my new one is about 1/3" inch longer than the old one, so I just cleaned off the old one and now Im putting that back in. But I can't get it all the way in. It threads in about a quarter to the way by hand so Im not cross threaded.

This is the new sensor. When it hits the orange gunk on it it doesnt go any further.


And this is the old. If anyone can confirm either its sits flush or it sticks out a little would be great and help me sleep a little at night.

 

Eh happened to me. As long as it doesnt leak,your fine. my new one didnt go in as far. and i beat the heck out of it. never an issue.

 

Alright. I didnt really want to run it like that just in case. Seems like when I pulled out the original there is a lot of gunk in the threads, probably from threadseal. Seems pretty pointless to even clean it out since most of it will probably end up in the coolant. Thanks Chris

 

no problem. Oh,make sure its got 2 prongs inside the connecter. alot of store clerks dont know the difference,but the one for the gauge had 1 prong,and the one for the ecm has 2.

 

definitely. I cross referenced the part numbers myself from rock auto to autozone. Almost thunk I made a bad cross reference! I googled first and yeilded no results, so hopefully this will help someone in the future.

 

My '98 seems to need it's ECT replaced too - based on trouble code (P0118) that Auto Zone helped me obtain. They sold me one and it looks just like yours (a BWD brand) with the orange threads and all. I consider myself mechanically skilled enough to make the change myself but being told it was "probably near where the thermostat is" turned out to be not enough info find it. (OK, I did not look too hard coz it's been really cold). The truck runs OK but starts hard and gets bad MPG despite new Spider Injectrs, plugs, etc., etc. that I spent money on trying to correct the "misfire" code. These parts fixed the misfire code but very soon after the P0118 code popped up.

So ... can you guide me to where I can locate it? I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks

 

Yea man,its near the thermostat. find that only one thats brass. screw it in semi tight and roll!

 

I found it but it's not in the same place as yours is on my '98 LT. Removed most of the air intake parts out of the way and found a dangling connector/wire with a broken-off, plastic top half of the ECT module attached to it. Pretty easy at this point to find where it was supposed to be connected. It was towards the rear of the engine sorta above the last cylinder on the driver's side. I removed the broken-off bit from the connector and attached it to my new part just to be sure. It fit fine. No telling how long it had been broken off but I suspect the shop that replaced the spider fuel injector ***'y could be the culprit. I did not have the needed 3/4" deep-drive socket to remove the hard-to-get-at old one out. But I found that I could re-connect it without it falling off as soon as I let go of it. A little black tape was wrapped around too. Will buy the socket soon and do it right. Meantime, it seems to be starting better/faster and running a little better too. Little worried that, after 15+ years, the old one may be unwilling to come out.