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96 Legacy OB 2.5 Where is the coolant temp sensor?


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So Broke and I just put a re-gasketed 2.5 DOHC with 225k miles in my 96 OB and we are having trouble bleeding all the air out of it. This is prbably because while we had it on the engine stand, it was completely drained of coolant.

 

So my question is: where is the sensor that sends coolant temps to the computer and if separate, where is the one for the temp gauge?

 

Thanks.

 

Edit: Nevermind, found them.

 

Tom

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Dang, still heating up and boiling over. New thermostat, radiator, radiator cap, new coolant, new water pump, timing belt, all front bearing, front seal.

 

I'm going to drain the coolant again and put in new upper and lower radiator hoses.

 

Tom

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i had the same issue when i put mine back together. pissed me off to no end, and when i gave up and shut it down, thinking i would try again in the morning, i took the rad cap off and it started sucking fluid in like no tomorrow. so, while it was warmed up and not running, i kept adding fluid to it and it kept taking it. worked well, that temp gauge doesnt move at all.
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i had the same issue when i put mine back together. pissed me off to no end, and when i gave up and shut it down, thinking i would try again in the morning, i took the rad cap off and it started sucking fluid in like no tomorrow. so, while it was warmed up and not running, i kept adding fluid to it and it kept taking it. worked well, that temp gauge doesnt move at all.

 

Twisty,

 

I don't understand if you took the radiator cap off, how did it suck coolant back in? Wouldn't it just come out of the radiator with the cap off, rather than suck back from the overflow tank? What am I missing here?

 

New upper hose, O'riely didn't have the correct bottom hose, so I re-used the old bottom hose.

 

Now once the fans come on they stay on. When I turn the AC on, they go to high speed, back to low when AC is off, but never totally off again unless I shut it down.

 

When I put the new thermostat in, there was only one way it would fit and that is with the spring up, towards the waterpump side. This is acting almost like the thermostat is stuck shut.

 

Tom

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1/ remove vent plug on radiator at top hose.

2/ fill radiator at fill neck / cap SLOWLY. this is key.

 

(i have written this a couple of times and it works great, for me. but it is so odd and extreme i really don't expect any one to follow it. sit the jug of coolant on the passenger strut tower and use a long tube, about 1/4 inch diameter, to siphon the coolant in the rad. the process is so slow you will get bored, but slow works in this situation. )

 

3/ when full install the vent plug and rad cap.

4/ start the engine and run it up to full operating temp. then shut it down and wait for it to cool down.

5/ open the rad and top it off. mine usually only takes a couple 3-4 oz.

 

(most folks run the engine with the rad cap off to burp it. but i have found that when it burps it looses more coolant than it really needs to so i just heat it up and then let it cool before i open it. all you really want to do is circulate the coolant and eliminate any air bubbles. the siphon is so slow it really does not need much burping or topping off. this is different than most other fill and burp process. )

 

good luck.

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John,

 

Thanks, Broke must have read that because I did something like that with Broke to no avail. I'm thinking this engine, that had a blown head gasket and some of that crappy stop leak in it, has had all of that crap flushed out of it and into my new radiator.

 

When I start it and let it idle up to operating temperature the fans come on at about 170-180 degrees, but only the air coming through the radiator right at the inlet on the top passenger side is hot. The air that is pulled through by the same fan is decidedly cooler the farther away from the inlet you go. The driver's side fan is pulling only cool air through. And the inlet hose is rock hard, a lot harder than the output hose.

 

So tomorrow I will one more time pull this new radiator out and flush clear water through it and see if I collect anything in the drain pan.

 

If I find any of that Barsleak crap in there, I will get some industrial flush made for aluminum blocks and do a flush or two.

 

While I have the radiator, I will remove the new thermostat and test it in a pot of water brought up to boil on the stove.

 

Tom

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Check to make sure your heatercore is not plugged up. I recently (3hours ago) found out that if you don't have flow through it you engine will run hot very easily. While on the high way is the only time my temps would go below 200. The fans were not enough.

 

I found this out because I currently took out my heater core and just stuck a pipe in the ends of the hose. The water pump pumps fluid op through one hose and then into the heater core and then back into the cross over pipe. This flow of coolant keeps the car fairly cooled without having to kick the fans on. Which come on at 200.

 

Even while driving my temps were still 190 plus. Usually these cars sit at 170 -185.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Tab using TapaTalk 2

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Twisty,

 

I don't understand if you took the radiator cap off, how did it suck coolant back in? Wouldn't it just come out of the radiator with the cap off, rather than suck back from the overflow tank? What am I missing here?

 

when i parked it and stopped driving, i turned the engine off. it had no pressure in the top hose so taking the cap off does nothing anyway. that was when i noticed the fluid level in the radiator dropped a bunch really fast, so i added more into it. it wasnt taking it from the overflow, since there was no pressure difference to force it. i didnt start the car during this process, and it kept on sucking in fluid. when the radiator wouldnt take in anymore fluid, i started the car and let it get to running temp (fans kicked on) and took it for another test drive, all good. temp gauge didnt go up, the hoses finally got some pressure in them and everything. i put a bit more than half in the overflow, and by morning it had sucked in about an inch and a half more into the system.

 

my best guess is that there was an air pocket in there, and the water pump creating pressure and cavitating in there was keeping the air in there. when i turned off the engine, it allowed the air to seep out and be replaced with coolant.

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Damn! I am so stoopid. The next time I ask a question on this Forum, would the first responder please ask if I have my head screwed on?

 

Took off the radiator and found no blockage or residue whatsoever. Flushed it out anyway, and got great flow.

 

Pull the thermostat and W T F! I had it in upside down! Now just wait a goll durn minute, I had checked it and it wouldn't fit in the housing upside down...I thought...I had checked the old one when I was disassembling it, it it wouldn't fit. The new one however would.

 

But I remember specifically looking at the diagram and noting that the spring had to be facing up. So that's how I installed it. I even went back to the diagram a second time to check, because you know us old guys forget sometimes. Yuppp, spring up; so that's how I installed it. Unfortunately I HAD THE ENGINE UPSIDE DOWN ON AN ENGINE STAND AT THE TIME!!!!!

 

ARRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!! Broke and Dusty, you guys were right; it turned out to be something really simple; me.

 

Tom

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John,

 

I already had it on and buttoned up by the time you got there. Everything okay now except I'm getting a P115 code; coolant temp sensor system somethin somethin. The temp gauge sender is working fine but I can't test the ECT sender; heck I can just barely touch it to make sure it's plugged in.

 

Tom

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  • I Donated
Glad to hear its running. We can take care of the 115 code next time I'm over there. It might be something as simple as the plug being forgotten and overlooked. If we need to, we can take the sensor out of the 2.2 since we know that one is good.

-broknindarkagain

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