I have an 83 dl. Radiator fan works, but have to hot wire it. Local Subaru dealer wants $45 for a new sensor, the one that goes into the radiator near the drain plug on the passenger side. Is there another alternative?

well what you can do is use your own switch to simulate tha fan sensor, and kick on the fan manually using its same circuit

 

on the sensor itself, the sensor is actually a switch, and when it closes it continues the path to ground. you could wire up a switch in between the wires that plug to the sensor, or just splice into the ground wire and run it to your switch(to ground). having it the 2nd way will allow the thermo swithc to work(with a good one) with the option of manual activation