coolant temp sensor location

[ray ray]

ok guys im out of ideaslol i searched almost evry thread i could to find out what is up with my 1986 325e i have a bouncy idle and wanted to replace my coolant temp sensor.i bought one from a local parts store and its the blue colored connector style i looked on my thermostat housing and i dont have a blue connector i have one with the 2 blade connectors on it i belkieve this is the sensor but want to make sure do i have the wrong sensor for my car.do i need the one with the dual blade connectors or is the blue connector sensor located somewhere else.thx for any info.ray.

[Jesse30]

my sensors (2 of them) are on the thermostat housing. but our engines are different. sorry cant be of too much help. google?

[ray ray]

no problem man,ive actually got like 4 sensors on my thermostat housing and not sure which one it is i unplugged them with it running and found my temp gauge one so i can rule that one out.but now im not sure which one is the one for the coolant temp for fi.

[AdamF 88iS]

Sounds like he gave you a sensor for an i car. The one you describe with 2 wires should be the right one.

In all honesty though, I doubt thats your problem.

[ray ray]

ok thats what i figured had happened.i was pretty sure the 2 wire one was the sensor.and ive got a boucy idle but my car also is running rich very rich in the morning so i figured i would swap it out just for the heck of it and see if it helps.i appreciate the info guys. i guess ill take it back and try and get the right one.

[Jesse30]

bouncy idle may be your ICV

or vacuum lines.

i think the whole running rich situation may be caused by those too.

[lordofthewaters]

Running rich could be vac lines, or a malfunctioning cold start valve. I'm inclined to think the csv since you said it does it in the morning.

[AdamF 88iS]

I'd try cleaning the ICV to fix the idle. Also check that the idle swich on the throttle position sensor is being contacted.

As far as running rich in the morning, see if you've got a leaky cold start valve.

[ray ray]

well guys im about to give up.lol. it just runs rich all the time now. i dont think my coolant temp switch is bad cause if i unplug it the idle comes up some.i cleaned out the icv last night.and i just unhooked the cold start valve completely unhooked the fuel line and plugged it and the connector and it still is running rich any other ideas i cant even drive it it burns your eyes and chokes you.lol. its just puffing black smoke at an idle.

[ray ray]

also ive sprayed carb cleaner on all of the vacuam lines and around the throttle body and intake gaskets and nothing changes doesnt seem to have a vacuam leak so far.

[AdamF 88iS]

I'd check the AFM then. It's the only other part that commonly wears out and has that much affect on the mixture.

[ray ray]

is there a link on here of how to check and see if its bad.im hoping its not.lol. thx for the help guys but i need to be able to drive her to work my wife has the e36 and is going to her sisters in phoenix.also these problems started the day after i bought it in phoenix and drove up to prescott we are higher elevation do you think that would affect the afm cause it ran fine in phoenix.and earlier it was running decent except for the fluctuating idle but it wasnt running rich.it seems to come and go.

[ray ray]

ok guys i sprayed the afm out with carb cleaner and reassembled it and it runs better but still runs a lil rich but not as bad.any other ideas or do you think the afm is probably shot.

[ray ray]

well its getting better i found a thread of where the screw was on the amf and it had already been tampered with so i pulled the plug out of it and sure enough it was almost turned in all the way so i started backing it out and got it almost to the top and atleast now its not running rich seems to be running a lot better the idle has improved it still goes up and down a lil bit but not much.we'll see how it does the next couple of days it also starts better turn the key and it fires right up.im going to replace the plugs again and the o2 sensor and the valves will be adjusted thursady so it should be good from there.theres a screw on my icv also and the po had turned it to smooth out the fluctuating idle.lol. instead of cleaning it.does anybody know where that should be set at.

[ray ray]

well guys good news i found the problem,i had the valves adjusted to day and they were in good shape and replaced the valve cover gasket.well i got back home from picking it up and started looking around to see if i could find out what was causing it to run extremely rich.when i started looking at the afm real close i could see where someone had put silicone around the base of the cover.someone had pulled the cover off before and messed with the afm well i took the cover off and the needle was resting about in the middle of the potentiometer. well i adjusted the wheel down to theleft side and the motor started smoothing out the black smoke was gone and throttle response was much better.i set it where it seemed to run the smoothest for now till i can replace the afm with one that hadn't been messed with.but atleast its running and doing good now.