I just had to replace the coolant temp sensor... AGAIN...

They last 12-18 months, tops... and the only one available at Oreily's was the one made in China... I am betting this one lasts about 3 months.

I am going to order 2 from Rockauto ASAP so I have the delco part in hand.

Funny how the OEM one lasted 15 years, and I keep going thru the replacements at this rate!

Oh, Delco is the best... 18-22 months!

Back in the 80's I had a repair shop.
Had many commercial customers (delivery and taxi mostly) that needed new engines. They wanted 'rebuilds' but I convinced them the cheapest way was to have me get complete engines (10 to 40 thousand miles) from the wreckers complete with all accessories. BUT...(I would explain to them)all their accessories (oil pump, timing chain, gasket set,water pump, distributor, alternator, oil pump, oil pan, etc, etc) would have factory existing miles on them (10 to 40k) which would be much better than re-installing their 250k existing items Saved them thousands. (Sure, I could have made decent bucks from the rebuild going the 'shop way'..and actually STAYED IN BUSINESS....thus being a real 'shop'....but whatever, eh?).
Now, 30 years later, things haven't really changed, except the list of items included on the wreckers list (CTS, MAF, etc, etc).
Of course today, the wreckers have gotten smarter and separated these items from the engines and sell them apart(and THEY are still in business, of course).

All this to say.....it's better to buy factory used than to buy rebuilt new.

That sucks. Same thing happened to me and Joe with our fuel pressure regulators. Lasted maybe two years before it tore open and started dumping fuel. And at $50 a pop and an hour to replace it's not fun.

Matthew

I contacted Racetronix about a fuel pump to replace the working one in my C5. In my book its not if its going to fail, its when. Anyway he asked me how many miles on my car and I told him at the time I think around 86K....He said just leave it alone....I said ok.

I was suprised and pleased he did not just try to sell me something and I also read into it that the OEM part was a good part and not to fix it if it ain't broke.

I have always hated in tank fuel pumps.......The C4 fuel pump was something you could change out yourself which was ok to me but the C5's no way. In fact there are two of them...one to feed the engine and one to pump the fuel from one tank to the other.....If you do need to change them out it is a TON of money....parts and labor.

That's my rantings for the day.......

One month old coolant temp sensor from Advance went bad in my '91 Caprice. Open circuit caused me a nightmare of a 60 mile drive in lots of traffic. Super rich condition causing stalling, hard restarts in very awkward places.

Have you considered the possibility that there might be something causing it to fail?

Granted I don't know what that would be, but a sensor such as that with no moving parts should work for years and years no matter who makes it.

Don't get me wrong, I hate crappy parts as much as the next guy but in my experience if you have repeated failure of the same part, it's usually not the part to blame.

Maybe something like corroded or flaky contacts on the wiring harness side? Perhaps when you plug in a new sensor it "cleans" the contacts slightly so it makes up good for a while and then corrodes back up?

I ripped a brand new opti off of my car once because the pigtail that goes between the opti and the main harness had corroded up. The pigtail was brand new as well and had never been wet but it was sure messed up.

For some years now, I've had good luck withthe Echlin brand of sensors on my cars.
For a '92 Vette, my local NAPA lists this at about $25.50.
Here's a link to the NAPA site for the CTS...

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Cat ... 1992+50012+2012030&Ar=AND(P_RecType%3aA)

Best of luck, I hate junk parts too.

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I have thought about this... more than once. And again, yesterday, I re-cleaned the harness plug. And I am left with the same question: What would cause these things to fail?

I will say this, the last one that failed, the plastic socket was broken in a belt change. I hate it when that happens... but it continued to work until the numbers freaked out. Now, if the last one failed because of goo on it, that's fine.

But the reality is that this Chinese made part is not going to last. What I don't understand is how the knumbnuts at O'Reilly can say with a straight face that it will.

I think the last one was NAPA... that or GM OEM. Hell, I had a brand new GM OEM part fail within the week one time.

Just for shits and giggles have you tried to test one of the sending units with an ohm meter? The resistance should change dramatically with temperature. Test it pretty much the same way you would test a thermostat. Drop it in boiling water and test the resistance across the terminals and watch it continue to change as the sensor returns to ambient.

I can do that... I have the old sensor.

You'll likely find that it's bad, but it never hurts to test. On the off chance the sensor is good maybe you can run that down and save yourself some headache and pulling out of your hair. I know I don't have much left to pull out anymore.

oh, quiet you. I am 46 with a very full head of blonde hair... no going anywhere anytime soon!

My dad always said he's not worried about what's turning gray, he's worried about what's turning loose. I know where he's coming from.

Put a match to it with the ohm meter connected. You'll see it move right away. Resistance should drop as it warms.

and if it does what it looks like it did, the resistance will bounce like a pogo stick.

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Ohms vs temp chart, page 6E3-A-45

Not really concerned about real numbers, just seeing how linear the resistance reads.

Ok... tested the old one and it actually responded correctly.

I then test started the car with the new one in it, as supplied by O'Reilly, made in China by Master Pro Ignition...

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/det ... 96_-1_3125&keyword=2-8296

Talk about a piece of shit. I started the car and IMMEDIATELY got a code and the temp was stuck at 142. Dead sensor.

I put the old "broken" one back in, after cleaning the contacts and it works just fine, even with the busted plastic shield.

I don't know about the rest of you guys, but if I had a choice between a $10 part that would get me by in a pinch, or, a $25 part that will last for 5 years... give me the $25 part.

I have no problem with paying more money for a quality part. But, it seems like most people now want the cheap price and the hell with quality. And what gets me is that good parts could be produced just as easy as the junk parts. Just use good materials and assemble them properly! I'll gladly pay the difference.

Joel

Sounds like you need to thoroughly clean your connections and tighten them if at all possible and then put it back together with some dielectric grease to prevent corrosion. What does the brand new "dead" sensor do with your ohm meter?

The dead sensor would run up some numbers real fast and then go "OL" on the meter - it's a Fluke digital.

It did it several times.

The 142 is a default the ECM uses whenever the sensor fails...

The ECM expects oil and coolant to heat at different, but linear rates. This is the bite here... 142 is way too hot for 75F oil! The ECM expects them to start (nearly) the same and spread apart... not start apart!

Cool, just wanted to verify that the new dead sensor really is dead. Since the old one actually works that pointed towards a connection problem. Electrical gremlins are maddening, wanted to make sure there wasn't one there.

the new one plugged in real nice and snug and tight... weatherpacks are pretty good for that.

But it mattered not... it was hosed.

Even if the plastic is snug sometimes the connectors don't make up though. But if it doesn't work with the meter then it's not gonna work in the car.

I need a coolant sensor for my car but they only make the one that goes in the block and not the radiator for OEM.

Uh, kid... there isn't one that screws into the radiator.

1986, right? This should be the part;

http://www.napaonline.com/Catalog/Cat ... 1986+50012+2012030&Ar=AND(P_RecType%3aA)

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Are you referring to the low coolant sensor in the radiator?

Matthew

If so, don't bother with the POS... it was a flawed design. The sensor was located on the rad above the engine. It sends more false messages than positive ones.

Practice due diligence and pull the cap once a month.

I dunno, my low coolant light has always been accurate. Helped me track down a leak in the heater core I didn't know I had.

89 was different than 87, IIRC.

The 87 had a sensor mounted just below the filler neck. Every time the driver rev'd the engine, causing the level to drop a couple of inches, the light would come on. Most annoying! I even asked Gordon Killebrew about it and he was never impressed with that design.

He much preferred the later design, that put the sensor on the surge tank.

I'd have to compare the 89 vs the 87. On mine the sensor is mounted under the rad cap but a few inches down and I've never experienced a false reading.