Why is my coolant sensor popping out??
I was driving down the highway the other day and I had to gun my engine to pass someone up and I immediately smelled coolant and saw a path of liquid following me down the highway. When I pulled over and popped the hood I saw that the coolant sensor had popped out of the top of the thermostat housing and all of the coolant had sprayed through its hole. I filled radiator back with water and put sensor back in and it drove fine home. I tested again this morning by gunning engine and the sensor plug popped back out. I don't notice any type of clip to hold it in on any pictures ive seen online so my question is why is it popping out?? Is/Was there air in the system? Is the fitting for the plug in the thermo housing just worn out? I don't want to buy a new housing or plug if I don't need to.
I've attached some pics
Thanks for your help!
Second pic
It should have threads on sensor un plug wire and screw back in don't tighten to much or threads will stripp
On my 2003 there is a spring clip which hold the unit in the thermostat housing. Mine is U shaped. Look for a groove on the housing, it may be there and bent not holding the unit in place with sufficient. Could the radiator be blocked. If you're building up a lot of pressure it could be blowing it out.
Was it replaced at any time you know of? If it is held in place with a clip, like mine, it took quite a bit of force to compress the O ring so I could insert the clip.
