Please forgive me if I have posted this in the wrong forum... I am in the middle of replacing the ambient temp sensor which comes in three parts: 1. The sensor. 2. The female module which receives the sensor and the wiring harness. 3. The wiring harness. Soldering is a snap. My difficulty arises in the inability to properly seat the prongs of the wiring harness into the female module. If anyone could give me some advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. The OBC reads the temp as -40 or +122 degree Fahrenheit. Schultze is out of warranty and the earliest service date is 11/18/09. AC does NOT work if the temp sensor isn't connected...but the heater works GREAT! I'm very self-concious of the glaring "Check Engine Light" when driving at night...I feel as if everyone can see it...ut: Thanks in advance. Erika
I edited the title to try and get it seen a bit more. Also, it would be quite helpful to add in model information. At least the year so we can get a feel of what generation the MINI is. Oh yeah, so pics of both ends would be helpful too please. <soapbox> This is there the Garage comes in really handy. Any one could quickly see at a glance what the specs of the MINI are.</soapbox>
2006 Justacooper w/Aero kit Apparently, the aero kit doesn't have the "snappy things" that would normally hold the temp sensor in place, so somehow it came loose and began dragging on the highway...hence a complete replacement. Will take pics in a moment.
Thanks so much for uploading the pics for me...I'm having difficulties all the way around today... I'm definitely going to zip-tie mine, too!
Look closely at the two metal connectors. You should see where there is a small metal flap that is sticking up from the tubular metal body. You should be able to push the metal connector into the gray male molded part. The flap should retract as you push it into the round holes of the gray part. You should feel a slight snap as the metal flap clears a step in the plastic part, which is designed to prevent the metal connecter from coming back out. Do the same to the second connector. Then push the white portion of the gray part into the black sensor.
That's what I've been trying to do, but the black ribbed thingy is keeping it from going in all the way. ARGH!
The black ribbed thingy is a moisture seal. It should compress as you push it in creating a water tight seal.
I seem to recall from wiring d-sub connectors eons ago that they made "pin pusher tool" just for this sort of thing...
Aye, that's what it be. A wee bit of petroleum jelly will assist in getting the little buggers to slide in.
SOLUTION!!! See the female module & how it has a white & green part to it? That part snaps away from the gray housing and then the white part snaps off the green part. Once separated, the pins are easily seated and when the white part is snapped back into place, it keeps the pins in place. I will be soldering the wires after work...I do have a quick question though... If the CEL light and/or temp reading doesn't go back to normal, are there any special steps I need to do? (Similar to the process of resetting the service indicator?) Thanks in advance! Erika
You may need to get the CEL cleared by someone with a generic OBD-II reader, if it doesn't fix itself after a few drives or go away after disconnecting the battery for a while. Possible that driving without the sensor would throw some codes that you can't clear without a BMW-knowledgeable scantool, but unlikely IMHO. The generic scantool should be sufficient.
I didn't need to find someone with a scantool... I finished the soldering and ziptied the harness to the bumper support. Drove the car around the block and in less than a minute the CEL turned off and the temp starting increasing in 1-degree increments. It only took a few more minutes for the temp to be regulated so I'm a very happy camper! Thanks for the tips, everyone!