Saturday, May 20, 2006
Dart update: Intake Air Temperature sensor
Just got the Intake Air Temperature (IAT) sensor in place on the Dart. The unit is a GM sensor originally used on the Grand National and Pontiac Sunbird Turbo. The MegaManual describes this as an "open cage" sensor, as the sensor sits in a plastic cage instead of inside a solid metal housing. Open sensors react better to the sudden changes in intake temperature that occur in turbo engines. My installation here is as crude as the rest of the intake tubing - I just drilled a 5/8" hole with a spade bit, put some RTV silicone on it, and screwed it into the plastic without tapping it.One issue with the open cage IAT's is that the sensor element itself is just held in place with two wires. If it vibrates, metal fatique can break these wires. To solve that, put some RTV silicone on it (use the sort that is safe for oxygen sensors here, along with everywhere else in the intake) and get a few blobs of it around the wires holding up the sensor element. A syringe might be handy here, but I just put a blob on a bit of stiff wire and worked it through the cage and around the wires.
Labels: Dodge Dart
