Stupid question: what is this connection for

[bowtie2bimmer]

As you can see, the female end fell apart. But I have no idea what it does. I thought coolant temp sensor but my gauge still works. A/c fans still work too. Can anyone help me out?

Also recommendation on how to fix? Each wire is color coded but I don't know which prong to attach it too

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[rzerob]

Looks like radiator temp sensor. That controls your high and low speed accessory fan on an early model.

http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=210783

read this.

[Sea Aych]

I think that's the temp switch for the aux fan
Mine's on the other side of the rad though, so i'm not sure.

edit: rzerob beat me to it, looks like that's what it is

[bowtie2bimmer]

Ok so those small electic fans in front of the rad will kick on once it hits a certain temp? I knew they would kick ok when the a/c button was activated, didn't realize they operated on temp as well.

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[101]

yep - its a temperature switch for the aux fan. Same thing happened to my eta ... I was able to purchase a plastic plug from BMW and slide those wires into it. Good as new.

Two things will turn that aux fan on:

1) Air conditioner operating (blue snowflake lit on the HVAC panel).

2) Temperature of the coolant in the radiator.

It's a two speed fan - so there are three wires - low speed, high speed and ground.

If your aux fan is coming on regularly without the air conditioner being on, its time to check your mechanical fan clutch on the engine driven fan for proper operation.

[bowtie2bimmer]

Great. I didn't realize bmw could get me that plug. Do you have a part # by chance?

From real oem I think its 61131378410

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[Sea Aych]

Great. I didn't realize bmw could get me that plug. Do you have a part # by chance?

From real oem I think its 61131378410

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yup, that's right

[Stanley Rockafella]

Great. I didn't realize bmw could get me that plug. Do you have a part # by chance?

From real oem I think its 61131378410

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that plug is just for the housing and not the wires that feed into it.

There's another part number for the correct wires (if you wanna do it the right way) to splice the wiring into the housing

61-13-0-007-441 *3

[bowtie2bimmer]

Oh... so really I just need 3 of those female leads. The other part just makes it look pretty

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[101]

Pretty, yes, but the plastic housing will keep those "females" in place, keep the dirt out of them and prevent them from touching each other and sparks flying.

Wait - we're talking about a connector housing here, right?

That housing was about $2 rougly 2 years ago. Go for it!

[rzerob]

The plastic housing is a cheap part but it serves no real function other that keeping the females leads together. You don't really even need the BMW OEM female leads either. Take a but crimp connector and put it over top of the prongs in the sensor it should fit good. That can hold you over until you get the OEM parts. Dirt is not going to get inside your connection and you have no worries of sparks flying with out the plastic housing. Female leads are insulated so are but crimp connectors. If you have any questions ask.