wrong coolant temp sensor for 97 accord

My '97 accord 2dr SE overheated from a blown radiator hose a while
back. It turned on my check engine light and when I checked it it said
there was a problem with my coolant temp sensor. Since then (obvious I
fixed the hose) the car tells me it's running really hot. After a
couple minutes the temp is up past half and usually now at about red
line. Coolant is fine and it isn't blowing any of it into the overflow
reservoir so I think it's just the sensor. I went in to get a new one
and the one that comes up for the '96, '97, and '98 accords and civic
is all the same. However it isn't the one that's in mine. The
electric plug on the outside is the same. The thread in mine is much
bigger and the one they show has a post that would go into the coolant
I guess but mine is just flat. I don't know if anyone will be able to
help but just wanted to see if anyone else had run into the same
problem.

 

if the accord's like the civic, there's 2 in close proximity. the
sender for the gauge is a flat thing. the sensor that gives temp signal
to the ecu is the one with the post going into the coolant. make sure
you're looking at the right one.

unless you know for sure that the gauge sender is after-market or in
some way defective [they're /very/ reliable], i'd start checking for
other problems with things like thermostats, head gaskets, etc.

 

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If your reservoir isn't at MAX at the end of the day, top it up to there
and see if the engine 'drinks' it overnight. The engine can't replace
the trapped air in the system if there's not enough liquids in the
reservoir.

'Curly'