P0117 on a 4L - how do you get to this sensor?

I did dig through the forums and for 4L 2nd gens I saw maybe one post with a drawing of the engine with each sensor and I cannot make sense of it. This is the sensor that reports to the ECM I believe and has nothing to do with the temp gauge on the dash (thats a question because I'm only 96% certain) and id like to resolve the issue (I have a replacement).

 

It's on the back of the engine, according to service info you need to remove the upper intake manifold to change it.
Your coolant temp gauge get's it's reading from the PCM and the PCM uses the Coolant Temp Sensor.
P0117 is for the sensor or sensor circuit being shorted (or the actual coolant temp has exceeded ~280F).

 

The ECT sensor sits on top of the coolant bypass pipe the connects both heads together located at the back of the motor. I believe a Deep 19mm Socket will remove/install the ECT Sensor.

Roughly where it is located circled in red ..minus the two heads..pic taken when I did headgaskets last August..

 

Great info. Thanks you guys!

 

Wow I had no idea all that had to be done. I might as well check my fuel pressure while im at it

 

You may be able to "cheat" it without removing the intake, I'm not sure as I haven't done one yet.

 

Totally doable, plenty of room back there. Remove the top engine cover and Bam!!

 

youve gotta see the steps listed in the Chilton guide! Do I have to drain coolant?

 

In theory yes but in reality if you can swap it quickly the coolant loss would be minimal.

Have you verified the sensor is indeed bad? Coolant temp sensors don't fail very often.

 

How would you go about testing if it’s bad? I just got this code today and have to wait for the sensor to show up at the store but would like to know more on this

 

If you could dumb it down it’d be great since I’m still learning

 

On a cold engine. Turn the key on.
Then look at your live data on the scan tool.
It should read close to outside air temp.

On a FULLY warm engine. It should be 180-190ish.

 

Probably should’ve done that before taking the sensor out. Apart from the sensor possibly being faulty what else could cause this code to appear?

 

A short in the wiring.
Or a bad ECM. (Not likely)

 

Good to know and thanks for teaching me this, if it's not the sensor I got an idea of where to look next.

 

If you download the file at the bottom of post #2. It tells you the code set criteria and diagnostics.

 

I feel dumb for scrolling past that

 

Turned out to not be a faulty sensor (sorry for
Just seeing your last response). But
Shortly after I noticed my temps weren’t reaching the normal temp which tripped the CEL. Seems like the thermostat is stuck open not fully or won’t close completely so I need
To swap that on Monday.