well it wasnt the temp sensor, It was the thermostat! once taken off and replaced.

I opened up the old housing to find that the plastic clip holding one side of the thermostat in place had sheared off, so it was running open all the time.

furby is running like a dream now temp gauge sitting at half way after 5 mins of driving

no coughing and spluttering my mpg should now improve.

Nice one! Sometimes its the simple things that give the problems , easy fix tho , which is nice!

Glad you got it fixed! Sorry for the bum steer in the sensor, but at least you know that that's not going to go 'pop' any time soon!

Couldnt be so kind as to post a picture circling the thermostat could you ?

I have a similar problem, and thought it was the sensor, but this may be worth checking

I think it's the bit that the temperature sensor fits into, but I could be wrong....