How do you mess up a coolant temp sensor replacement?

[bgzs4]

For the past couple months my temp guage has been working on and off. It is either pegged at zero or right in the middle where it should be. Sometimes it will heat up like normal go to the middle and after some more driving will go back down to zero. Figured it was probably the CTS although my car is 01.5 and already has the updated green sensor. Anyways, on my lunch break today I went to replace it with a new sensor and when I pulled the clip holding the sensor in, it was very brittle and just fell apart (of course) leaving some plastic still in the neck of the coolant hardpipe dealy. I have about 75% of the clip out now, but am having trouble getting the sensor out. I'm assuming the reminents of the clip are holding the sensor in. This leads me with the following questions................

1. the sensor seems snug, would it be completely retarded to drive the vehicle? it seems pretty well sealed........

2. How the hell do I get the rest of the plastic bits of the clip out of the neck? Even with the accordian off there isnt a whole lot of room.......

3. What is the part # of the CTS clip

4. Why do I have so many problems with the cooling system on this car? Ive had to replace the radiator, 2 T fittings, and $75,000 worth of G12

5. How much longer will my K03's live? JK :)

Any guidance is appreciated!

[Capt. Obvious]

That happened to me a while back when I changed my sensor. Luckily for you, those clips are only like $.75 from the dealer. I used a couple zip ties to make sure the sensor was held down when I had to drive to the dealer to get the clip, I didn't have any problems.

[fshowcars]

yuk... so that sucks.

the sensor is probably just stuck on their seized with coolant... it, most likely, will pop right off... there is an edge on the sensor that teh clip is holding, you may be lucky that some of the clip is still in there holding the sensor in?

the issue is going to be when you start the car and it heats up the coolant and builds pressure, it will probably pop that sensor out of there and destroy your engine bay with coolant.

1. probably sealed but might pop under pressure?
2. any way to feel through the ridge iwth a small flat head?
3. Mfg#: 032121142
4. i'm with you... my car eats coolant / water... either an afterrun pump (but never leaks ) or a head gasket?!?! !
5. keep'em oiled and forever!!!!

[GunSupplier]

. Anyways, on my lunch break today I went to replace it with a new sensor and when I pulled the clip holding the sensor in, it was very brittle and just fell apart (of course) leaving some plastic still in the neck of the coolant hardpipe dealy. I have about 75% of the clip out now, but am having trouble getting the sensor out. I'm assuming the reminents of the clip are holding the sensor in. This leads me with the following questions................

Tell me about it. My plastic clip broke as soon as it felt the presence of my hand approaching. I did my CTS about 2 weeks ago, and I had the same problems. It's just "seized" by old crusty coolant around it, as fshowcars said. I even pulled on the sensor with pliers, in an attempt to force it out, but nothing worked.

So after like 5 minutes of utter frustration, I just took a large flathead and put it in between the coolant pipe (you know, the grooved part where the clip slides in horizontally) and just ever so slightly nudged the sensor from side to side by tilting the screwdriver in each direction against the sensor until it broke it loose a little bit. After that it was a walk in the park to get out. Thankfully that coolant tube is metal, so you can kind of be a little rough with it without fear of anything cracking, but still, BE CAREFUL if you do the screwdriver nudge.

I'll share a funny story about the CTS to make you feel better. When I was replacing mine, I ordered a new CTS with a new clip. As soon as the old one broke I was all "Haha biatch, I have a new one! Not gonna frustrate me today!" and then as I was putting the new clip on at the end of the installation, I decided to double check if it was really in, and the damn thing flew out of my fingers and fell somewhere into the engine bay! Talk about a "FUUUUUUUUUU" moment. I had to order a new effing $0.75 clip.

[bgzs4]

Never a dull moment with these cars. I like how changing a $12 part for peace of mind ends up in being car-less for a couple days. Thanks for the insight guys. Luckily I work from home so I don't really need a car. I was gonna order a bunch of stuff soon anyways. If anyone else has something else to add feel free.

[bgzs4]

Tell me about it. My plastic clip broke as soon as it felt the presence of my hand approaching. I did my CTS about 2 weeks ago, and I had the same problems. It's just "seized" by old crusty coolant around it, as fshowcars said. I even pulled on the sensor with pliers, in an attempt to force it out, but nothing worked.

So after like 5 minutes of utter frustration, I just took a large flathead and put it in between the coolant pipe (you know, the grooved part where the clip slides in horizontally) and just ever so slightly nudged the sensor from side to side by tilting the screwdriver in each direction against the sensor until it broke it loose a little bit. After that it was a walk in the park to get out. Thankfully that coolant tube is metal, so you can kind of be a little rough with it without fear of anything cracking, but still, BE CAREFUL if you do the screwdriver nudge.

I'll share a funny story about the CTS to make you feel better. When I was replacing mine, I ordered a new CTS with a new clip. As soon as the old one broke I was all "Haha biatch, I have a new one! Not gonna frustrate me today!" and then as I was putting the new clip on at the end of the installation, I decided to double check if it was really in, and the damn thing flew out of my fingers and fell somewhere into the engine bay! Talk about a "FUUUUUUUUUU" moment. I had to order a new effing $.75 clip.

Haha dude don't even talk to me about dropping shit in the engine bay, search some of my threads lol

[PSUS4]

I just swapped mine. I bought the set up from ECS that had the new clip and o ring included for $25. Not sure if that was a good deal since I"m new to the S4 and didn't do a lot of google searching. I popped it out with a flat head. Be gentle though not to crank too hard on the coolant hard line. Just a little leverage. Also, remember to depressurize the system before you remove it. I forgot and had a G12 fountain in my garage. Finally, if you bought a new o-ring make sure that you remove the old one completely, other wise the new sensor won't seat properly. I failed to remove the old o-ring completely and the damn thing popped out when I started the car. More g12 fountain.

[odhinnhrafn]

When I changed mine, part of my old O-ring (it was hideously crusty) fell into the coolant tube... Took about an hour to fish the stupid thing out, after a 15 min smoke break... So about an hour and a half for a 5 minute job... lol.

[bgzs4]

So I got a new clip and o ring for $4.75 from the stealership. I now can't get the clip to stay in, it keeps popping out when i give it a tug. The sensor doesnt want to sit properly, I don't know why. Here's a couple interesting things.......

1. There was a small piece of the O ring and that's it, there was no o ring in the neck??
2. I have scraped all around the neck with a flat head and I can see metal so I know there aren't
any pieces of the old ring getting in the way.
3. I am using a vatozone cts and it appears to be slightly longer than the oem piece.


I am thinking maybe the dealer gave me the wrong size o ring. Perhaps it's too thick to let the sensor sit deep enough and that's why the clip won't lock in? I am so frustrated by what should be a 5 minute job......

[bgzs4]

Never mind, I was just extremely hungover and wasnt pushing down hard enough. Got it now! :)