Ron,

What you get from the dealer is a sensor soldered to one end of a 2-conductor wire. This enables you to replace the sensor cable to the display connector (around the fuse box). Because of the labor involved in routing the cable through the engine wire bundle, many mechanics will just cut-off a piece and splice it to the old cable (not recommended!). Others, to avoid the splice, will desolder the sensor from the new cable and replace the old sensor.

In any event, all you need is the sensor itself which is an NTC thermistor. Units such as the Fenwal #192-302LET-A01 or Thermometrics #EC95F302W are more durable and accurate than the original spec. The Thermometrics unit, for example, lists for $3.75 and is available from electronics suppliers such as Newark and Allied.

Hope this helps.

[Edited by barrie on 02-27-2001 at 04:04 PM]