May 31, 200817 yr My new (old) '83 Brat passed emissions! If only the Wagon was that easy... I think it was started to overheat while waiting in line... By the time I got home, it was starting to miss and run poorly. The temp gage on the dash isn't working. I found the temp sensor next to the thermostat, but there's no wire connected to it. I need to locate the wire. Where does it come out of the wiring harness? What color is it? Thanks! -Bill
June 1, 200817 yr Author right around the thermo housing. i dont know why it would be out of sight... Yeah, I found the sensor itsself. The problem is there is no wire hooked up to it. I couldn't find anything in the area that might be it. I would like to know what color the wire going to the sensor is, and where in the engine bay it comes out of the wire harness...
June 1, 200817 yr I don't have info for the Brat of that year but for the GL model the wire color is yel/grn.
June 1, 200817 yr Author I don't have info for the Brat of that year but for the GL model the wire color is yel/grn. Found it! Mine had some wraping around the wire that was white/yellowish, but the wire underneath was indeed yellow-green. It meets up with some other wires (Oil pressure sensor? and a couple blue wires that go to the carb) just behind the carb. From there it goes accross to the passenger side and into a round plug between the battery and passenger strut. New problem... I plugged it in, and the temp gauge pegged at HOT. The engine has been sitting for awhile, so there may be some heat in there but it shouldn't be off the chart. Does this mean it's the wrong sensor? It's all shiny like it was recently replaced... Thanks! -Bill
June 2, 200817 yr The sensor may be the wrong one. Check what the resistance is of the sensor is with the lead removed and the engine is cold. Check the resistance between the lead connection and ground.
June 2, 200817 yr The likely reason it overheated is that the temp switch on the radiator is defective, or the fan doesn't come on, or the ground wire that grounds the radiator (and is the return path for the temp switch) is missing. Hopefully, the engine didn't overheat too badly, but the fan should come on when the engine gets too hot and you're not moving fast enough to get cooling air through the radiator. Good luck with this; I'll try to get a pic of my '84 to help locate the wire and sensor if you need it.
June 2, 200817 yr Author The likely reason it overheated is that the temp switch on the radiator is defective, or the fan doesn't come on, or the ground wire that grounds the radiator (and is the return path for the temp switch) is missing. Hopefully, the engine didn't overheat too badly, but the fan should come on when the engine gets too hot and you're not moving fast enough to get cooling air through the radiator. Good luck with this; I'll try to get a pic of my '84 to help locate the wire and sensor if you need it. It has two electric fans and one of them had frozen up. I took it apart and sprayed it with WD-40 to get it spinning again. They both come on now. I'm hoping I didn't do too much damage to the engine when it overheated. It used to idle smoothly at about 1100 RPM, now it idles a bit rough at 300 RPM. So something certainly changed... I did a compression test and came up with 150-155 in all the cylinders. I drained the coolant and didn't see oil, drained the oil and didn't see coolant. I think those are good signs, but don't know if there is anything more I can check... For now, I've ordered a new coolant temp sender. I want to be able to monitor the temp before I do much else with it.
June 3, 200817 yr It has two electric fans and one of them had frozen up. I took it apart and sprayed it with WD-40 to get it spinning again. They both come on now. I'm hoping I didn't do too much damage to the engine when it overheated. It used to idle smoothly at about 1100 RPM, now it idles a bit rough at 300 RPM. So something certainly changed... I did a compression test and came up with 150-155 in all the cylinders. I drained the coolant and didn't see oil, drained the oil and didn't see coolant. I think those are good signs, but don't know if there is anything more I can check... For now, I've ordered a new coolant temp sender. I want to be able to monitor the temp before I do much else with it. So far that's good news. Your choice of waiting until you change the temp sensor makes good sense. I wish you the best for it.
June 5, 200817 yr Author I wanted to close this thread out with a report of success! I replaced the temperature sender that was in there with this one: http://www.thepartsbin.com/catalog/?N=&uts=true&Ntt=W0133-1638173 The dash gauge is acting normal now. Drove her around some tonight with no overheating. We'll see how she does when it's a bit hotter outside... Now back to trying to get the wagon to pass emissions. Thank you all for your help and input! -Bill
June 5, 200817 yr Another success story! Glad you got it fixed and thanks for the feedback. You are welcome for the help. Drive on.
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