Cooling system question

I'm in the process of swapping out my thermostat and water pump, hoping this will resolve some recent over heating issues (I changed the fan clutch only a few months ago). I have two issues and associated question I would be grateful for help on.

First, the one thing I forgot to buy was a new temperature sensor to fit in the new thrmostat housing I bought. A pain as I can't just wander down to a car parts shop here and buy one, instead I will need to order on Amazon or Rock Auto, with a c. 2 week lead time. To avoid leaving everything sitting taken apart for two weeks could I unscrew the temperature sensor from the old housing and fit it in the new housing? Then when a new sensor arrives swap the new one in?

Second, I can't work out how to unclip the harness from the temperature sensor. I've watch a few YouTube videos and everyone just seems to diconnect it with ease and no explanation, but I can't work out if there is a clip to loosen. To be honest I can't even work out how it separates...


Does the part pointed to with the blue arrow separate from the part pointed to by the black arrow? I have previously broken a number of these types of connectors and want to try and avoid doing so again.

Thanks in advance.

JKP said:

Yes, you can put the old sensor in the new housing.

If you don't have a red lock tab on the connector, you should just be able to depress the tab and pull it apart. I've found that spraying the connector with WD40 will help the two pieces release.

Click to expand...

Thanks. I should depress where the blue arrow is pointing? At this point I'm getting no movement there, but will try the WD40 approach.