Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

Technical => Electrical Tech => Topic started by: Cougar8775 on February 28, 2010, 07:11:36 PM

Title: id this part...
Post by: Cougar8775 on February 28, 2010, 07:11:36 PM
I can't find where this part goes or what it even is? i know when i dorve the car earlier today the temp gauge didn't work at all, and the heat wasn't that great. But the coolant level is good and full. So what is it?
Title: id this part...
Post by: 88turbo on February 28, 2010, 08:09:31 PM
looks like an ambient air temp sensor but I dont remember seeing one on any of my TC's
Title: id this part...
Post by: Cougar8775 on February 28, 2010, 08:10:43 PM
its just sitting near the rad. Not hooked to anything at all just hanging out.
Title: id this part...
Post by: Cougar8775 on February 28, 2010, 08:44:39 PM
also what would cause the temp gauge to not work and where is the temp sender located?
Title: id this part...
Post by: jcassity on February 28, 2010, 11:36:07 PM
I wish i was more help on the 2.3 but until my son owns one,, im avoiding it.

my first impression was that it looks like a thermal disc type switch,,, and I almost said it must attach to the radiator somewhere as to trigger the electric fan.

ill dig into the evtm,, gut tells me its something that triggers a ground to a realy that may opperate the fan.

have you verified the fans come on?
Title: id this part...
Post by: jcassity on February 28, 2010, 11:47:09 PM
nope,,im wrong.  still looking though.

color wires please
Title: id this part...
Post by: jcassity on March 01, 2010, 12:00:05 AM
sorry, i dont see it in the basic evtm.  Im sure its in there somewhere but just looking at all the pics, couldnt find it.  I didnt know what to call it or what sub assembly or control circuit its tied to.
Title: id this part...
Post by: Cougar8775 on March 01, 2010, 12:04:35 AM
im not sure myself but i can get the colors of wires in the am. And when i was running the car today the fans did kick in. and the temp gauge never moved when i drove it 2 miles to my inlaws.
Title: id this part...
Post by: jcassity on March 01, 2010, 12:23:05 AM
one of the thngs to stop the temp from not reading is an IVR issue or......

the temp sensor is wide open and will not vary in resistance as the coolant heats up.,,ie- broke dick.

ground it out to a bolt or something on the engine and see if it pegs.  if so,, its prob toast.

if it doesnt peg, the ivr is toast

speculating at this point.

you could unscrew it and lay it to the side and heat it up with a lighter in order to see a result from the dash.  if you get a result,, then its obvious coolant isnt reaching up that high on the motor or a port is clogged,,,, or the sensor itself is gumed up with so much , the sludge on it is preventing it from picking up coolant reading.  ie- someones dumped a bunch of stuff in to stop a leak and the  on the sensor is acting as an insulator.

its always a good idea to clean it off with scotch brite and install it agian to recheck.
Title: id this part...
Post by: softtouch on March 01, 2010, 01:00:14 AM
The "engine coolent temp sender" is the one for your gauge.
 Do you think that "low oil level sensor" could be your mystery sensor?
The picture looks like two wires going to it. The wiring diagram only shows one DB/LG wire to it.
Title: id this part...
Post by: jcassity on March 01, 2010, 01:04:21 AM
i saw you reply softtouch and instantly thought,, how'd he figure out what that part was:rollin:
Title: id this part...
Post by: Chuck W on March 01, 2010, 08:58:19 AM
You need a better pic... that one pretty much sucks.

Also, it doesn't look like any sensor I've ever seen on a 2.3T. Wire colors and a better idea where the wires go would be helpful too. It doesn't look like a low oil sensor.

Your fans are controlled by the ECU on the 87-88TC.

The heat issue sounds like either your cooling system needs flushed, or your thermostat is stuck open, and thus not allowing the engine to heat up.

Softtouch, that pic you have is wrong.  They have the oil pressure and coolant temp sensor locations swapped. 

Cougar, perhaps your gauge sender (the one in the block) is disconnected or bad, and thus causing the gauge issue.
Title: id this part...
Post by: Cougar8775 on March 01, 2010, 12:19:45 PM
well the car did heat up but it got to the "m" in norm. And another issue came up. The turbo is making 2lbs of boost if i floor it. What would i have to do to check this out? and will it hurt it to run it without it making boost? And as far as the unknown part it is in like with the fan wires. The 2 wires on the unknown part are black.
Title: id this part...
Post by: 88turbo on March 01, 2010, 01:46:54 PM
Chuck I hate to say it but your wrong.  the fans are controlled by the IRCM module on the strut tower and not the ecu on the 87 and 88 models.
Title: id this part...
Post by: Chuck W on March 01, 2010, 01:49:54 PM
Quote from: 88turbo;312186
Chuck I hate to say it but your wrong.  the fans are controlled by the IRCM module on the strut tower and not the ecu on the 87 and 88 models.


The ECU controls the IRCM.  The IRCM gets in info for the fan activation from the ECU, which uses the ECT to get this info.

Quote
IRCM pin 14 is controlled by an output of the EEC. When the engine is below 190*, the EEC applies a "low" to pin 14. The low turns off Q2, allowing Q5 to turn on, causing Q6 to turn off. Conversely, when the EEC determines a need for the cooling fan, it removes the low from pin 14 which allows Q2 to turn on, Q5 shuts off, and Q6 turns on energising K4 and applying voltage to the main fan via IRCM pins 1 and 2. This circuit apparently acts as a kind of "failsafe" for the fan; if the EEC wire to IRCM pin 14 breaks or if the EEC output "opens", the main fan will run continuously.


There is no fan switch like on the 83-86 cars to control fan actuation.  It's all handled with temp inputs from the ECU through the IRCM.  The IRCM just contains all the relays and circuits for the power circuits for the fans, ECU and FP, no "controls" per se.
Title: id this part...
Post by: softtouch on March 01, 2010, 02:59:36 PM
Quote from: Chuck W;312149
Softtouch, that pic you have is wrong.  They have the oil pressure and coolant temp sensor locations swapped.

The pic is from page 133 fig 4 of the 87 EVTM. The 86 EVTM page 120 fig 4 also has it wrong for those that want to correct their EVTM'S.
Here is page 73 fig 8 of the 87 EVTM. You will like this one better.
Title: id this part...
Post by: 88turbo on March 01, 2010, 03:12:52 PM
chuck sorry about that.  I wasn't thinking that far into detail :rollin: