ive searched but am confused, the coolant temperature sensor on the driver side head for the gauge, does it have the "pigtail" wire on it? does it look just like the one on the water pump (for the pcm)? at autozone and oreilly they searched and the only one they could find just said ect sensor or something simple like that (only one choice basically). i think my gauge sensor is messed up as i just switched back to the 180 thermo and the gauge reads under the 1/4 marker when cruising like it did with the 160 i used to have. at idle it goes to 1/2 mark and floats around somewhat which i guess is normal? please help as lame as this sounds.....thanks

 

only the screw-in piece is included. the pigtail is a dealer part unless you can find one in a junkyard. it is normal for the guage to go unusually hot at times though. the high speed doesnt even kick on until 240 and they shut off at 219 or close to it. i hot wired my fan relay to the interior fuse block through the hvac fuse so they come on with the ignition. only goes above 1/2 in traffic on a hot day, problem solved

 

You can test your coolant temp sensor using the method shown on Shoebox's site.

http://shbox.com/1/4th_gen_tech2.html#ect

He also has a list of the replacement pigtails for various sensors.

http://shbox.com/1/Parts.htm

The pigtail and sensor on the head is a single-wire sensor, the one in the water pump housing is a two-wire sensor, so they are not interchangeable.

 

Parts stores often give out the wrong sensor for the gauge for some reason. The GM-AC-Delco part is your best bet.

 

thanks for all the input. for now i'll just go to the parts store when i can and see how many inputs/terminals/or w/e they're called is on the sensor port thing. i'll know if it has 1. i'll let you guys know how it turns out and thanks again

 

Ditto on the sensor. I went to autozone to replace the one in the head and they gave me the wrong one. I went with a GM OEM sensor and it was all well. They due look the same as the one on the water pump.