Comper100

Hi all,

Can anyone tell me where the engine coolant temperature sensor is on a Legacy turbo engine because its bought up a CEL code 21 and now the car is really hard to start so I need to change it.

Any pics and a rough price would be great

Thanks

Comper100

dij

I think its in the same place as it would be on an Impreza,under the PAS pump.
IIRC,its a single wire sensor.

I didnt think this could make it difficult to start?????

I dont tknow the price,but it cant be much,at a guess £20?

Comper100

Yeah i think i know where it is now.

I am having real trouble starting now in the morning, because i suppose ittells the engine its cold, therefore providing more fuel for start up. Without this its like trying to start a car with no choke! Bit of a pain.

Has anyone changed one of these?

Thankyou
Comper100

dij

I checked again today and its actually under the alternator (near the pas pump).

Looks like you may need to move the alternator unless you have a good set of tools.

BTW,I have a s/h sensor if you are willing to try it.

Comper100

Are you sure thats not the Guage sensor, i belive there are two, one for one thing and one for the other?

Can anyone confirm?

If its the right one i would be interested yes.
Comper100

Turbo_Steve

In fact, I think you'll find it's in the cross pipe towards the back of the block, if memory serves.

tweenierob

There are two yes, the single wire one is for your temp gauge.. the Orange two wire is your temp sender for the ECU.

IIRC Steve is right and they are both on the back of the cross pipe rather than the front.

ON later cars it is on the front.

R.

dij

Do apologise,it is as above.(doh)

I will check if I have that one too.

dij

IIRC,this one is a pain in the backside to get to,but I will look in the morning.

Turbo_Steve

yep, it's a royal pain

Comper100

Oh great! Not looking forward to that then, i have seen the one your on aboput and it looks a poo to get at. Oh well i'll see if i can get one.

Simon C

I've just changed my sensor that goes to the ecu on my MY96 sport. I took all the Air intake pipes and oil breather pipes off inc crank case vent. And used a 14mm spark plug socket with out the rubber insert to undo / tighten up the sensor.

HTH
Simon

Comper100

Ahh thanbks for that thats great, just what i needed. I'm planning on getting rid of the resonator box in the process so, i can do them both at the same time.

Cheers
Comper100 (PS how much did your ECt cost Simon?)

Simon C

£40 from the dealership. On the sport its a right bugger. Its in the cross pipe that goes under the manifold.

Comper100

Yeah it does look a pain. I'll see if i can get hold of one, in the mean time its a case of Foot to the boards and **** it over until she wants to play, rather tedious but it'll have to do for the while.

Cheers
Comper100

Simon C

Have to admit I was lucky, my local dealership had 1 in stock. Usually its a 2 day wait. Like most things for our cars, its a dealer only part!!

Turbo_Steve

Have you tried simply disconnecting it? I can't remember if they fail high or low.....if it's high then unplugging will just give you an annoying CEL, but at least the car will start?

Comper100

The CEL is always on now, so i dont know what that means.

Turbo_Steve

I think it means "Get a new sensor"

Comper100

Hmm spose so. Oh well i was gonna try a reset but i think i'm just kidding myself. Was wierd though, drove to Uni all fine, came back and it just did it!

Comper100

Simon C

Get a new sensor, its only about 40. Took me 1/2 hour to do everything inc topping up the coolant afterwards.

But if you have the connectors under the dash to check the cel code connect them, the last thing you want is to change the sensor and find you still get the cel.

On my sport I have 2 single connectors which are black, the turbo's have 2 black and 2 green.

Comper100

yeah its a Code 21 on the CEL, and as soon as the CEL came on it was a bitch to start.

Comper100

Simon C

New sensor time.

Comper100

Comper100

dij

Yep,it is a bugger.I checked it today and it might be accessable from under the alternator with an extension and socket,but still very tight,I dont know how you will get the plug on/off,and you dont want to drop the old/new sensor (or the socket) in the small gap.

Might be better to take off tha alternator.

BTW,I do have this sensor,so pm me if you still need it.

Comper100

Hi

I bought a new sensor from my local dealer for £27 + the Vodka and tonic. I shall have a go at fitting it at the weekend.

Cheers guys

Comper100

Comper100

Well i tried an ECU reset the other nite just to see if it was a nasty gremlin, sure enought all symptoms gone.....................until this morning, went to work only to find that the fault code was back!

I've tried my hardest to avoid it but i guess i'll just have to do it this weekend!

Comper100