Safe to drive on unplugged coolant temp sensor?

[R18Civic]

So I finally got all my exhaust leaks fixed, however I’m the process of pulling the rear manifold with the crossover pipe connected I managed to whack my coolant temp sensor and bust the female connector. I’ll be replacing it tomorrow but first I need to drive about 60-70 miles (mostly interstate).

I’m already having related issues such as both radiator fans running constantly, abrupt TCC engagement aside from running rich. I can literally smell raw fuel on startup. Other than that the temp gauge sits at 0 but I’m not having any driveability issues. My main concern is hydro/vaporlock or engine flooding/oil contamination. Are any of these a serious possibility in such a short timeframe?

 

[George7941]

I wonder what temp the ECM thinks the engine is at. A scan tool will reveal that. The fact that the rad fans are on indicates the ECM thinks the engine is hot but then the engine will not be running rich. Maybe the fans are not controlled by the ECM and is an unrelated problem.

 

[R18Civic]

Had no issue before busting the sensor, and the heater seems to feel a bit cool at 80 degrees but almost uncomfortable on my hands at 90 degrees.

It may be running lean, I do remember after warming up the engine would stumble upon startup followed by the gas smell. However I’m running 93 octane on light mods and a stock tune. 87 nets me better mileage as long as I stay out of the mid to upper RPM range. Raw fuel smell would lead me to believe it’s a rich mixture.

 

[George7941]

Perhaps it is running lean and the raw fuel smell is from unburned fuel caused by misfiring.

 

[R18Civic]

Hmm. Could be. Not noticing any black smoke from the exhaust that’s characteristic of a rich condition but not noticing any sluggishness/timing pulled either.

However the only code was p0118. No misfire or lean/rich codes. Just checked, p0118 is high resistance. High resistance occurs in the sensor on a cold engine so I’m running rich due to the pcm thinking my engine isn’t warming up.

 

[eljefino]

Scantool might not tell you the default temp... it'll probably be 68 or 180, LOL.

Is there no way to rig what's left of the wiring to the pins from the sensor? Even without the plastic you might be able to get the pins in there.

 

[R18Civic]

Unfortunately my BAFX Bluetooth OBDII tool bit the dust. Somehow a couple resistors are loose. Still attached to the MB but wiggles a bit and won’t connect to the PCM or link via Bluetooth.

I know the thermostat opens at 185–190. The pigtail is fine however the sensor prongs are busted and a chunk is busted off.

 

[TmanP]

(I think) The fans running nonstop is a failsafe mode where if it doesn't know what the temp is, it assumes that it is too high; it's what I would expect to happen in that case. What's the car?

 

[R18Civic]

2009 LaCrosse 3800

 

[R18Civic]

Well I’ve only gone about 35 miles and I’ve got gas in my oil. Wiped the dipstick 3 times on a paper towel and it’s noticeable if you Inhale deeply

 

[R18Civic]

Needless to say the Buick is grounded. Tomorrow it gets a new Coolant temp sensor, CRC 5 minute engine flush along with 5 qt synthetic and a new filter.

 

[R18Civic]

Good news is the oil isn’t flammable.... yet.

 

[JimPghPA]

Running really rich washes the oil off of the cylinder wall and significantly increases engine wear. You could wear out an engine in one or two years if you do it all the time.

 

[R18Civic]

Exactly why it’s all getting flushed n replaced tomorrow along with the new sensor. I’m more worried about bearing failure and trans damage due to the slam shifts.

 

[kc8adu]

it will read -40 and run very rich.
hard on a lot of things esp the cat.
park it.

 

[supton]

Somewhat surprised that it ran rich. Usually some level of diagnostics exist--the ECU checks to make sure all sensors are alive, and if something reads outside of expected parameters, it tries to compensate. Temp sensors tend to be resistive, thus open or short circuit is kinda easy to detect. Once detected, it could guess based on air inlet temp or some other method.

But it probably does err on the side of rich. Maybe its only compensation is run rich until misfire is detected? Dunno. Doesn't sound like it runs well in this case.

 

[andyd]

A bad CTS is the equivalent to a stuck choke in the old days. So now you need a CTS and an oil change.

 

[R18Civic]

She’s fixed. Old oil didn’t smell like gas but you could see it separate when I poured it from the pan to the empty oil jug. Oil cap also had tan sludge that smelled like gas. Deffo glad I didn’t drive on it today.