97 SHO P0117 code

[Micah Ryan Lusk]

So I have finally acquired my first SHO after years of failed attempts. Car I picked up is a 97 and I drove 3 1/2 hours to OKC area from NTX area to get the car.

Had to do a roadside repair because of a short coolant hose between the metal elbows. In the process I broke the brittle plastic on the coolant temp sender, so I got another and I noticed it was also causing a CEL after driving down the road before and after the repair for the coolant temp sensor. Causing the ac to stop working, fans to run always, and hard starting (sometimes not at all) when cold or in general and I believe was causing it to run rich and just run poorly overall.

Basically what I want to know is if I just simply need to replace the sender with a OEM one to fix my issue or if it’s possible I just have a sticking thermostat? (Maybe it was removed?) from my reading the sensor on the left (two wires) is the sensor which talks to the ECU (the one I replaced) the one on the right is the sender (just for the gauge, 1 wire) and was not replaced or damaged. I’ve heard aftermarket sensors can have different specs and not read right or work right even if it’s labeled to work for the car.

Sorry for the long first post…

 

[99sho-time]

I highly doubt it;s the new sensors fault it must be an issue with the actual wiring,. i run an aftermarket one myself dont have an issues.

 

[Micah Ryan Lusk]

Well the issue didn’t happen until driving for a while, and I never saw and have yet to see any wiring issues, do these have a code for an open circuit or just low voltage?

Also just kinda seems odd that that of all things would be the only thing to have a wiring issue but I guess I’ll look into it more.

 

[99sho-time]

can roll the dice and install a new pigtail or use a multimeter. thing is with wiring issue you don't see them and they are often intermittent.
A while back I had replaced my engine's entire wiring harness due to a previous owner completely hacking it up.
I installed one from the same year well the pigtail tsb for the tps sensor wasn't done on the new harness and i didnt find out till a long time after.
I inspected the old harness and the tsb was done by ford so it could be in the connector/pigtail.
these cars also love to roast and toast electrical connectors nice and dry after 23 years or so

 

[Micah Ryan Lusk]

Yeah they do get quite hot in the engine bay, and I’m thankful and lucky to have a completely stock and unmolested car.

Anyway, I checked again just now and they have the the wrong damn sensor ‍ They gave me the coolant temp sender for the gauge (has the offset tab). Can see the connector on the sensor is slightly pushed down because of it.

Well I got a motorcraft sensor coming soon so hopefully that fixes my issue. Also got plugs and a valve cover gasket to find out the news on the cams lol.

 

[99sho-time]

glad you figured it out