1996-Code 22, Coolant sensor signal out of range

Whats this about? 2nd time. First time, I took battery off and it went away. Happens on cold morning, engine revs high, weirdly - then the CE light. The coolant sensor on the front is fairly new. Going to disconnect and reconnect it now. tia

dont know about your year, but on my 89 the coolant sensors can be tested with an ohm meter. if you have the chart(FSM or even haynes manual might have it) for that part, test the resistence when the temp sensor is at a certain temp. this will tell you if the sensor is bad. if the sensor tests good, then you need to look at the wiring for damage or if the sensor is seated proporly in the mount/fitting. sometimes sensors use the mount/fitting as their ground and if its not making a good connection, the computer will not get a good signal.

hope this makes sense or applies to your specific sensor, but the moral of the story is, test the sensor with a meter to see if its good or not and dont just assume its bad because it set off a fault code. of course this is coming from someone who owns a renix 4.0 and this is the only way to diagnos a problem.

Excellent advice. Here's the temp chart for a 97 Coolant Sensor.

TEMPERATURE RESISTANCE (OHMS)
°CEL. °FAHR. MIN. MAX.
-40 -40 291,490 381,710
-20 -4 85,850 108,390
-10 14 49,250 61,430
0 32 29,330 35,990
10 50 17,990 21,810
20 68 11,370 13,610
25 77 9,120 10,880
30 86 7,370 8,750
40 104 4,900 5,750
50 122 3,330 3,880
60 140 2,310 2,670
70 158 1,630 1,870
80 176 1,170 1,340
90 194 860 970
100 212 640 720
110 230 480 540
120 248 370 410

Or for a cleaner copy. http://mysite.verizon.net/~chris83803/1997_CTS.htm

thanks bro. Does this sensor have any thing to do with Throttle position at start up?

I initially replaced the sensor bc my aux fan was not coming on at 215-220... thanks for the help

It doesn't affect throttle position, but it can screw up the idle if the computer thinks the engine is cold or hot when its not.

The computer on the 92 up decides when the fan comes on - not at a preset temp. The temp sensor is that - a sensor with variable voltage output. It's not a thermal fan switch like the Renix, which does go full on at a rated temp and trips a relay. Not so on the OBD. Later, the wizards deleted it and ran off the temp gauge sender.

Don't confuse the two, they are different, and do not perform the same function. They just look alike, which is how I started a three year problem with overheating.