Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor

[smiley49]

I tried doing a search but had no luck. I spent about 4 hours today with a buddy trying to figure out what is wrong with my car.

The car keeps stalling, whether its driving down the road at 65mph or even 10mph, sometimes even at idle.

We took out about a gallon of coolant and it all looked good, we put it back in. We changed the thermostat to a 180 degree one.

We let the car run, it reached 210 degrees and then he asked me why my fans haven't gone on. I said what fans? I never knew my fans weren't going on. He told me I should be able to hear them. We checked for continuity of the wires, and got nothing. Checked the fans themselves and they were good. We traced the wires back up to the engine coolant temperature sensor, and we pretty much think that is bad. It is right under the throttle body I believe, black and yellow wires going into it, leading from the fans.

What do you guys think? Is this my problem? It's 88 degrees out and the temperature reached 210 in the car, it stalled out at idle three times but would start right back up while we were working on it. Has anyone ever had any similar problems? What do you think one of those sensors would cost me?

[Gmtech1005]

your fans may not come on until 215 degrees or over.... if the fans turn on at all, and you are not setting any ses lights, your sensor may not be the issue. why do you think it is coolant related? also, your pcm commands the fans on or off, the fans are not wired into the coolant temp sensor...they may run in the same part of the harness, but the coolant temp sensor sends its signal to the pcm....my suggestion...start with basic diag...under what conditions does it stall?...what is the constant between every time it stalls? like is it everytime the motor reaches a certin temp, maintains a certin rpm....do you have any trouble codes? you know...stuff like that... I have never seen a bird stall because of coolant temperature...and they will run as high as 210 degrees and higher..

[Gmtech1005]

ha...i missed the a in both certains in that paragraph...nice

[smiley49]

Well it stalls at all different RPM's. I had a mechanic check it out, he found nothing but a drivebelt on the way out and 2 corroded plugs. I had the oil and fuel filters changed, fuel system got some additive in it, and it got new oil. The same stalling issues kept up after all that. I tried driving it in "3" but it still stalled in that. I have no idea what is wrong, and neither did the mechanic I took it to :(

[smiley49]

Can anyone help me out?

[vampyr]

does it studder before it dies (possable fuel problem)A good way to check your fans (at least on a camaro) is to turn on your defrost this should force the fans on. I also do not beleave that it is temp related my camaro used to run as high as 220 before I put the fan switch in. and it never did any thing like you are explaining, and I have never seen one of our cars shutdown due to heat.
other than the fuel thing I might check into you PCM. hope that this helps

[whiteThunder]

hey bro, the sensor is right next to the thermostat, in fact the left bolt on the thermostat almost touches it. it costs $10.50 @ autozone new, ( i know this because i just replaced mine when i broke the existing one putting in my 180* themro as well. my car runs very smooth, and its an easy installation, just screw it in, and its only ten bucks, also this may sound dumb, but did you put the thermo is the right direction? just covering everything, but i say that the sensor seems like a very good suspect!!!!

[Gmtech1005]

ok...well we can all pretty much rule the cooling system out....It is not the sensor if your temp gauge is working...and is accurate... the thermostat can't be wrong because you most likely would not have gotten the thermo cover back on and you would have cooling system issues... since there are none... I think we be ok. Scan for codes and see if ya come up with any history codes..We can fix this problem but you gotta help us with as much info as possible.. Whats your fuel pressure like? ignition coil condition...what about you idle air control sensor...It is gonna be a sensor acting up....fuel or ignition...get me more info and we'll nip this in the butt.

[smiley49]

Fuel pressur is on 60 while moving, goes down to about 45 or 50 while stopped. It idles at 600. Temperature after the car is on for about 5 minutes is 210, and doesn't go past that. I changed the engine coolant temperature sensor, new air filter, new thermostat, and drained about a gallon of coolant to make sure it wasn't all brown and gunky.

Today the car stalled out at a red light. But it started up 10 minutes later. I really have to get this problem solved before I get hurt with it stalling out while I am driving.

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

are you lossing coolent? ? ??


umm

i think it could be one of the senors in the TB, if you have cruse control i bet it stalls when its on and starts to let off the gas.

if you floor the car and let off the gass does it stall???

how is your gas milage?

does it shut off, or fight to stay running then turn off ????

it could be a lose wire somewere got corroded or is lose and making the ECM think you shut the car off OR REMOVED THE KEY

in my car if i pull on the key and take it out the car does turn off not sure if that expose to happen but it does :(

[Turbo V6 Camaro]

also watch you fuel PSI when it stalls if it keeps PSI that good, if not loose poewer/ground to the fuel pump ??? bad pump??

[smiley49]

Originally posted by viper04af:
also watch you fuel PSI when it stalls if it keeps PSI that good, if not loose poewer/ground to the fuel pump ??? bad pump??

When the car stalls, it brings up "check gauges" and the fuel pressure is the only thing that moves to 0, along with the tachometer obviously because the engine shut off. Does this mean it could be fuel related?

I have never gotten anything better then 14 mpg except recently I got 19mpg on a long trip I took, where the car stalled only once. I've had the car since January and it didn't start stalling until the end of march. How could I go about finding out if it is a bad fuel pump?

[nikon]

that isnt a fuel pressure gauge in your cluster, it's oil pressure....viper brought up a good point do you have a second set of keys?....believe it or not we see things like this alot at the dealership with the old keys like we have, try using your other set....does your security light blink at all....if the chip in the key is messed up it will definatley shut your car off, and make it not start till the computer realizes whats happening...give it a shot for the hell of it ;)

BTW: I had this same problem in my dads ML320, all because of the damn key....

[smiley49]

It's stalled in the past with both keys :(

[nikon]

Originally posted by smiley49:
It's stalled in the past with both keys :(

then, get a fuel pressure gauge.....and check to see if thats your problem