Coolant Temp Sender In Strange Location

**BobK** · June 18, 2019, 04:20 PM

So my coolant temp gauge on my 2012 Atom 3 K20A supercharged was reading really high to the point I knew it was giving a false reading like 450 degrees. I called TMI and after some searching they found the the part number. It turns out it is from a British MG Rover but they had one from a wrecked Atom and sold it to me. The strange thing is it sits in a location that doesn't have any coolant flowing through it it is completely dry. I have aleways been told these sensors need to be in coolant to read correctly but it was put there on purpose so I wonder how it is working correctly. I spoke to TMI and was told that the engineers there are aware of it but I haven't gotten an explanantion how it works. I had to leave the car before getting a chance to install the sensor so I don't know how it will work. I may just order one from the UK so I have a brand new one as they are not a lot of money. The coolant sensor for the engine management computer does sit in a coolant hose so it it had gotten overly hot I know the computer would have gone into limp home mode. Has anyone ever heard of this before?

**cvjoint** · June 18, 2019, 04:46 PM

It is curious that a car that is supposed to be the super light model of the world has two coolant sensors. Isn't redundancy unnecessary added weight?

I would think that the dash sensor is something sold by the maker of the dash. So if it's a Race Technology Dash 2, the sensor is something off their shelves. I tried to add an oil temp sensor, went to RT and bought their sensor with wire + resistor and whole enchilada, wired it into the dash and I get a garbage reading. I could never make it work and though RT tried to help they didn't give me a new formula or anything to fix it. Wiring was straightforward and we wired it according to the book. Recently I found out the hard way the Dash 2 isn't waterproof either.

To say I'm unimpressed with the dash configuration is an understatement.