diagnosing bad coolant temp sensor?

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206er
Fifth Gear
Posts: 2590
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:24 pm

diagnosing bad coolant temp sensor?

Post by 206er »

I've been having some seriously bad fuel mileage in the neighborhood of 14-17mpg with a bone stock ej22t and 5sp. I thought it was just my leadfoot until I went a whole tank without going into boost (seriously). it seems to run great normally with only a hint of hesitation occasionally, barely enough to notice. but will start very hard sometimes(20 seconds of cranking). it's worth it to note that the car has a coolant leak and been run low on coolant more than once enough to start to get hot. all that I have read seems to point to a CTS. any good methods for diagnosing it's condition with a multimeter before just replacing it on a prayer? I have a revtronix cable and laptop if that could be of any use.
.
other than a CTS, it could be a bad oxygen sensor right? I havent been able to detect any fuel leaks by smell.
any tips to point me in the right direction of how to attack this problem would be greatly appreciated. I did try to search and didn't find anything on here. my chilton's wasnt all that helpful either.
1994 Touring Wagon: ruby mica, 5mt swapped
BSOD2600
Fourth Gear
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Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 6:49 am
Location: Seattle, WA

Post by BSOD2600 »

Section 2-7c / page 77 has the diagnostic details for the water temp senor. Josh has the FSM on his site (also in the stuff you need to know forum). 80-95* C after warmup is normal per FSM. Maybe post RevScan logs idling for a bit after warm up to compare against others.

'11 WRX Limited
'94 SS | 3" TBE, 07 TMIC, TD05H-16G, Revtronix Stage 2, Walbro -- Sold
'94 TW | R.I.P.
Mattheww044
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Location: Spokane, WA

Post by Mattheww044 »

I just changed mine. My symptoms were:
1. Ran like absolute crap until it was completely warmed up.
2. Horrible MPG's

Not sure if the CTS would cause this but:
3. Wouldn't start this morning, went out 10 minutes later, still nothing, went out another 10 minutes later, and it started after holding the key for ~5 seconds. Every start since then I have had to hold the key for a few seconds before kicking over.
I JUST replaced the starter solenoid contacts, and my battery is fine.
1991 Subaru Legacy SS 5MT: Revtronix Stage 2 Set-up with a few other "tasteful" mods :D
206er
Fifth Gear
Posts: 2590
Joined: Wed Jun 04, 2003 4:24 pm

Post by 206er »

i got antsy and replaced it. didnt think to check if the turbo one is in the same location as the NA, it's not. actually I think it's the one part that's easier to get to on a turbo car than an NA. I found this out after pulling the turbo and PCV system. doh! at least it was an impetus to begin a round of mods including a turbo upgrade. :roll:
1994 Touring Wagon: ruby mica, 5mt swapped
91Beater
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Location: pdx

Re: diagnosing bad coolant temp sensor?

Post by 91Beater »

I'm having exactly the same issue. Very poor mileage.

Josh said just to replace it, but I don't like replacing parts after parts as they add up.

I measured the temperature with IR thermometer right around the pipe coolant sensor is attached to and:

Temperature taken at the surface with IR thermometer and resistance taken at sensor with cable detached.

55F = 3.7kOhm (before starting)
175F = 0.26kOhm (after 10min road test)

From what I can gather here, its following the right curve and values appear to be within reason.
Here is where I found reference values:
http://bbs.legacycentral.org/viewtopic.php?t=35204

No signs of leakage
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