Coolant Sensor Mystery Part
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4wd Low
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
Coolant Sensor Mystery Part
Hey Guys. Been having ongoing issues with my ranger, and code reader said coolant temp sensor. This is where things get weird and I really need the help of somebody smarter than me! The first one is the one I pulled out of the truck. the top cracked off and fell in the deep snow and I was unable to find it, so was not able to get any part numbers off it. The second one is what the part store gave me for my truck, 2011 Ranger 4.0,4x4 auto. Everything I can find online shows the second one is correct. some forum posts on here say there should be 2 sensors side by side, mine only has one. I can occasionally find a part number that is threaded but it has thicker diameter threads and would not work for this truck.
I found a generic one on amazon that said it would work for my truck, and it did. But Im guessing the voltage(?) was incorrect, as the gauge read warm when the truck was cold, and pegged out to the hot side when truck was at operating temp.
Im going crazy trying to find the correct part and really need some help. In the mean time would I hurt anything by driving with the wrong voltage sensor when the truck thinks its overheating? It seems to drive fine.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jun 2023
Posts: 1,370
Likes: 382
From: WA
It would be resistance, not voltage. The bottom piece that you have in your hand might still have the thermistor inside. A good parts guy could measure resistance at room temperature and try to match it with a new sensor. Might save you some time.
Besides that though, how did/would you get the new sensor installed since the old one is threaded and the new one is not? From your pictures. I assume that the Amazon sensor is threaded?
Typically, the cluster gauge sensor is independent of the PCM control sensor. So driving with a bad gauge reading shouldn't hurt anything.
Besides that though, how did/would you get the new sensor installed since the old one is threaded and the new one is not? From your pictures. I assume that the Amazon sensor is threaded?
Typically, the cluster gauge sensor is independent of the PCM control sensor. So driving with a bad gauge reading shouldn't hurt anything.
Thread Starter
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4wd Low
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 11
Likes: 2
yes, the amazon one was threaded. Resistance makes more sense. I worried about driving it as my truck appears to have just the one sensor. with the bad sensor, the gauge always read cold and would occasionally run rough. so I had assumed this 1 sensor was sending info to both the PCM and the gauge, which is why I was worried about driving it with an incorrect reading.
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