ambient temp sensor
 

Can I splice a new sensor on to the old wire hanging on the front of the car? I don't want to run a new cable from the dash all the way to the front bumper.
Thanks

Yes, I think you can do splicing but you have to do the wire joints clean and neat, otherwise, there will be addition of extra resistance which may give wrong readings. Make sure to keep the cable length as it is.

Depends which car you have, I imagine.
 

On my 1991 300CE-24 the new sensor came with a length of cable terminated with some sort of connector. It was a simple matter to install the sensor in the bumper and route the cable through the engine compartment and connect it to the mating connector under the fuse box. Easy, took ten minutes.

Some years before I had successfully spliced a sensor (recovered from a wreck) into the twin-core wire, just behind the mounting in the bumper. I soldered it and sheathed the cables individually with heat-shrink sleeving. Again, so problem and it lasted several years.

RayH

ambient temp sensor
 

Thank you for the help, found a temp sensor at the junkyard for free and spliced it like you said, and presto I have ambient temperature now. Love it, love this site
Thanks again

i think my sensor or wirigin is bad. ive got a new, working temp display unit and it reads out at - 36 F almost all the time. it typically turns off after about 30 seconds after startup, but after i wash the car, or drive in the rain it actually sends a signal, just very incorrect.

thoughts?

I'd suggest using crimp butt connectors with weather tight heatshrink & glue in them. You can get them at Lowes for not a lot of $$. They make an excellent connection.

-J

found the culprit! the wire was damaged as it turned from the drivers side fender area to turn under the drivers side headlight and into the radiator area. damage to the outer sheath and inner wiring. i could see the brown and green (or was it brown and orange) wires inside down to the copper.

i cut out about 1" of the damaged area, cut back the black sheath, and stripped about 1/8" off then used butt crimp connectors. i also used two layers of shrink tubing to cover it up and used electrical tape to seal the ends. PRESTO! got a fairly accurate reading in the dash.