I'm trying to figure out what happened to my water temp gauge sender.
It is supposed to be a yellow wire right?
I found one and I have to extend the wiring for it to reach the sensor on the housing, but it seems to peg the gauge out if I plug it up...
Which would mean this is not the right one?
But it is the only connector I have left in the engine bay unplugged and it also has the spade connector on it.
However, my water temp sensor doesn't have a prong on it to connect to; could this be causing the problem?
If anyone has a picture of what the connector looks like or the area it is in; I'd appreciate it.
I have no money to upgrade to an aftermarket temp gauge right now.
I will try and take a picture of the connector I'm talking about in a few minutes.

 

there are pictures of it in the FSM

 

Would you mind directing me towards the correct area of the FSM?
I've checked all over the FSM and the Factory Wiring diagram.
I can't find an actual picture of the connector.

 

a picture of the sensor or connector? the connector is a round, bullet style connector. not a spade connector. it's black IIRC.

 

iirc the connector differs depending on the harness. s4 and s5 have different sensors because the thread is different.

 

The wiring harness is a s5. I'm still trying to figure it out, but I'm thinking I might have fried the sensor or the gauge.


Hmm... Bullet style. Idk what connector I have found then.
I guess I'm back to stage 1.
Thanks for the help though.
I'm still searching the forum in hopes of a picture.

 

From what I've gathered there is supposed to be a wire/connector that goes from the sensor to another connector on the emissions wiring harness?
There is nothing on the water temp sensor that is on my engine.. Could this be my problem?

 

As for the S5, yes the water temp gauge wire is yellow with a white stripe. I don't want to steer you wrong trying to describe the color of the connector as mine is very dirty and faded but right now it is somewhat of a clearish gray if that even makes sense. It is a spade connector. From the sensor, the wire goes into the emissions wiring harness and seperates from the wiring harness inside the passenger compartment on the passenger side and goes to one of the two yellow connectors connecting to the front harness. The connectors are above where the engine ecu would be on the far right side by the kickpanel. Its up in there but not hard to find. As far as the sensor goes, if it doesn't have the prong to connect to then you need a new sensor. The pegging out issue, I've got no insight, sorry. Hope this helps some.

 

here is a picture of the coolant temperature sender:

 

Yes, that is a picture for a series 4 but I believe he has a series 5 which has a spade connector. Basically the same thing if you can just imagine a flat spade connector instead of the bullet-style.

 

Thanks for that picture; it verifies that I do have a s4 temp sensor in the block.
Though, I was looking for a picture of the actual wire/connector that connectors to the sensor.
I have since found it but I when I wire it up to the sensor I don't get a reading at all.
I have looked around and can't seem to find a thread that verifies what I'm wondering.
Could it not be working because my wiring harness/gauge cluster is a s5?
If not, should I assume that maybe the sensor is bad and replace it with my s5 sensor out of my old engine?
I'm just looking for ideas since it wouldn't cost me anything at all except time...
And being unemployed I've got plenty of that.

 

Could it not be working because my wiring harness/gauge cluster is a s5?

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Yes. The pinouts for the gauge clusters are different.

 

First jpg is series four.

Second jpg is series five.

Kinda sorta looks like the views b/t the two jpg are 180* opposite. As look at the keyway in the middle of the plug that has the YW wire. The middle of that plug when compared with the other series view is upside down.

I colored the keyway parts Blue and Green so you can figure out what I'm talking about.

Cluster needs to be repinned for it to work.

 

Okay then thanks.
I'll run out and grab my s5 sensor and swap them out real quick...
Hopefully that'll fix it.

 

Both series sensors output the same value. It's just one has different threads than the other one. I fail to see how swapping sensors out would fix anything. Ain'ta gonna happen unless the wiring to the gauge cluster matches the gauge cluster your using.

EDIT: I reread the post and see that you have all series five in your car. I misunderstood. I thought you had a different series gauge cluster in the car.

Swapping sensors won't fix anything if you actually had the wiring going to the series four sensor that was screwed into your block. Like I said........they both output the same value...just different threads. See post #5 above.

 

Lol... FML.
The Frankenstein engine I bought has a s4 rear housing so the thread is different...
S5 sensor won't fit.
I'm thinking I'll just buy the adapter and a cheap temp gauge just for a temporary solution...
Does anybody know what size adapter I'd need for an aftermarket temperature gauge to fit at the temperature sensor location?
I don't want to tap into the water pump housing.