3.2L Head sensor?

75Carrera · 75Carrera's Garage

My car just out of the shop after 1000 mile break-in, oil change and valve adjust on a fresh '88 3.2L. Running cold it runs beyond great. Once it gets up to temp it starts to cut out seriously under harder acceleration (over 4000 RMP). My wrench thinks it could be the head sensor. Anybody have any first hand experience with a problem like this?

It's not a fuel quality issue. Does not appear to have anything to do with the internal motor. The car rev's great and runs fine until you push the pedal down after in warms up. No issues when it's cooler. My car runs cold and always takes a while to get to temp.

Head sensor is on order but just wonder if you guys have any other thoughts? (and don't suggest I buy an SC!) LOL

175K911 · 02-03-2009, 03:49 PM

Very common problem. I keep a spare in my glovebox.

75Carrera · 75Carrera's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by 175K911

Very common problem. I keep a spare in my glovebox.

We'll know tomorrow... Mine is in #3 and seems a bit difficult to switch out. I don't know if it can go on any other cylinder even tho they all have a place for one. My first experience with a head sensor. Hope it fixes it for a long while now.

Thanks

dimeified · 02-03-2009, 04:11 PM

I had a problem that was nearly impossible to detect. The CHT plug on the harness side was problematic. One of the wires pulled out of the pin making intermittent contact. When i would drive over bumps, my car would misfire. Also sometimes if i hit a big bump, especially uphill, the motor would buck like crazy, if i took my foot off the gas, it would surge up and down wildly. After playing around with the connectors, i found the culprit. Anyway, to replace the plug, i found a lamborghini fuel injector connector that seems to look exactly like the CHT plug except black. I ordered it today. In the meantime, i stripped the wire back some, and used a high wattage solder iron to flow solder down the wire into the connector. It seemed to hold up while i ran the motor and tugged on it, but it is only a temporary fix until i get the right one.

Also, CHT connector if you look up the number on it matches with a 944 part, as well as a vw bus part, a turbo buick fuel injector connector (which is a vw part), and i believe a buick roadmaster and 94 chevy corevette connector.

The lamborghini connector...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&_trksid=p3907.m29&_trkparms=algo%3DLVI%26its%3DI%26otn%3D2&item=330291906005&category=33646&viewitem=

Note the description does not actually say if the connector is 2 pin or 3 pin, but from what i've seen, most fuel injector connectors that had a connector the same as the CHT sensor had 2 pins. I will let you guys know when it arrives (ups ground) if this is a valid replacement.

cmonref · 02-04-2009, 04:14 AM

Pelican sells those "Lamborghini" (Bosch manufactured) connectors -- or at least they used to. I just looked and could not find it.

dimeified · 09:25 AM

Pelican used to sell the "Bosch" (AEM manufactured) connector however if you look up the number on Pelican 022 906 231, i think thats it off the top of my head i'm at work, they're listed as NLA. Also looking the part up in google doesn't really reveal a place to find them either, except busboys.com or something like that, but I could not find a "search" button on the website. So i looked up fuel injector connectors on ebay and the "lamborghini fuel injector connector" was the closest match lookwise. Still havn't confirmed the number of pins.

dimeified · 02-10-2009, 06:17 PM

Just letting everyone know, i successfully installed the connector today. It worked out really well! It clipped right onto the sensor connector just as the old one did.

john walker's workshop · 02-10-2009, 06:37 PM

check the gap on the reference sensors, especially if they were replaced or if the bracket was taken off for something. too much gap and you get what you have. still could be something else of course.

Nashville84Cab · Nashville84Cab's Garage

As JohnWalker said above, I would also check your speed ref sensor. I had a similar issue when my speed sensor was gapped incorrectly. In my case, the speed sensor was pushed to close to the fly wheel (not touching) and caused symptoms as if a rev limitor was set around 4000 RPM. Correctly adjusting the speed sensor fixed my problem. Just my 2 cents!

Let us know if the new CHT solved your problem.

dimeified · 02-10-2009, 09:47 PM

+1 the gap can definately cause problems i also recommend verifying the gap from the flywheel. Let us know how it works out.

75Carrera · 75Carrera's Garage

Replaced the head sensor and.... problem solved! Car is running perfectly. Sensor was about $60 and install about 30 min. I can see where the DME connector can be an issue but this little sensor solved my car's problem.

Thanks to all... Pelican Rules!