Coolant Sendor fix problem

[rater]

Right, having followed a guide to changing the coolant sendor, all was going well until I broke the retaining clip putting it back on :( None of my local dealers have one in stock (I tried to buy a spare at the same time just in case this happened) and I need the car for work tomorrow night.

Any other way to safely fix the sendor in place that anybody can recommend? Although the sendor feels tight, dunno if I'm too keen on driving it without some sort of clip on....

[Bodge]

Thin plate of aluminium and a hacksaw & file? If you still have the old broken one for a template it would only take 10mins to knock up a temporary replica.

Definately don't drive the car without a clip in though! The sender will pop out and you'll loose all your coolant!

[rater]

Cheers mate. I'll either give that a go or possible glue the clip back together with plastic glue if i can find some. Think I'm going to have a nightmare getting it back on, just doesnt seem to pop on properly, hence the snapping :(

[Bodge]

Did you replace the rubber o-ring under the sender? If you did, did you make sure you removed the old one if it got left behind in the housing? I've heard of that one before, with people trying to force it together with 2 o-rings in there.

Also do the 2 senders match up exactly? Just trying to think why it's not fitting properly.....

[tynedock]

hello mate you didnt by anychance get error code p1296 with this on your enginemangement light did you as i am contemplating geting this done for that error code

[richardsfavorit]

Have you guys tried VW? The garage I took my car to recently sourced the parts from Inchscape VW to do my thermostat - they were having trouble tracking it down. (Note for 1.6)

[Bowders1]

Right, having followed a guide to changing the coolant sendor, all was going well until I broke the retaining clip putting it back on :( None of my local dealers have one in stock (I tried to buy a spare at the same time just in case this happened) and I need the car for work tomorrow night.

Any other way to safely fix the sendor in place that anybody can recommend? Although the sendor feels tight, dunno if I'm too keen on driving it without some sort of clip on....

These are the same as VW / Seat / Audi ones for the 1.8t engine if you are closer to one of these dealers. You could try a cable tie fitted through where the clip would sit but i would carry spare water in case it pops.

[rater]

Hi guys, thanks for the suggestions. To answer the points:

Bodge: Yes I replaced the O-Ring, had to get my finger in there to remove the old old, but did that and popped the new one in before inserting the new sender.

Tynedock: I didn't get any specific error message. I don't have a diagnostic tool, but was getting the intermittant temp reading. I assumed it was a problem with the guage itself until I read otherwise on here.

Richardsfavorit/Bowders1: I ended up getting my sensor from VW in the end yesterday. Skoda had none in stock, along with none of the other parts. VW sold me the sensor and O-Ring but had no clips in stock.

I have managed to superglue the split clip back together and it seems to have set pretty well (fingers crossed!). Going to give the fix another go shortly, not sure why it did not go well the first time. I noticed that when I popped the new sensor in, it did not seem to sit tight and wobbled about in the engine quite a lot. I thought the clip would fix this and tried to push it on as far as I could, hence the snapping. Is there a specific point in the housing that the clip is suppoed to snap onto? I could not see a narrower part but my eyes are not great lol!

[rater]

Just an update to say DAMN I'M STUPID!

Just been out to fix it for the second time and found the notched grooves on the sensor holder. Although the glue hasn't held fantastically, the clip slipped straight on and the sendor appears stuck in place. Just switched the engine on and after about five minutes the temp guage was reading a constant 90. Fingers crossed all is fixed

Only thing is, my coolant tank is now reading the minimum level so that needs topping up, but I need to nip to the garage anyway to get a tyre fitted to my spare so I'll ask them to top it up at the same time.

Thanks for all the help!

[ExAudiSi]

Make sure they use the correct coolant type. Ordinary blue will not mix with the pink stuff in the car, you need VW G12 or G12+ or it's equivalent.