Hello everyone,

I'm having trouble starting my car again after cleaning the throttle body and replacing the coolant temperature sensor.

Attached is a YouTube video of what the car sounds like when trying to start it. And then also a few photos of what I removed to do said work.

In the second photo, I have the coolant temperature sensor circled which is the part I replaced. When taking the sensor out coolant started to spill out for a good 10 seconds before the pressure balanced out and the coolant stopped coming out. But all the coolant fell onto whatever was below. Perhaps it soaked something that shouldn't be soaked?

The third photo shows the components I had to remove to access the sensor. I've removed items 1 and 2 multiple times to clean the MAF and replace the engine air filter. 3 is the front side of the throttle body housing that contains the throttle body plate. As you can see also in picture 3 the throttle body plate is slightly open, this was how it was like when I first took it apart. Also when cleaning the throttle body I was extremely careful not to adjust the plate at all. I'm confident it did not move from its original orientation. Also circled in picture 1 are the hoses I needed to detach to access the sensor. A small amount of coolant came out when doing so.

I've employed KISS mechanics and have double-checked each connection and hose attachment (double-checked, but not triple-checked).

Ideas I've come up with are perhaps there's a vacuum leak somewhere. But I don't believe I detached anything that was under a vacuum. Perhaps not enough fuel is getting into the system?

I'm out east in PA for the holidays having driven my car from Denver, Colorado, and do need to drive back. I have a couple of days here to troubleshoot but any ideas, thoughts, or prayers (lol) are welcome!

EDIT: Why am I doing this? Driving into town the car threw code P0116 or Engine Coolant Temperature Sensor 1 Circuit Range/Performance.


Thank you everyone!

YouTube Video of stalling:

Hoses I removed

coolant temp sensor

components I removed

 

How exactly do you clean the MAF? Did you remove the TB to clean it or clean in place?

Inspect throttle body connector, ensure no pin backed out of the connector. Same for MAF. It happens. My gut says its the MAF sensor though.

 

Sorry, I cleaned the MAF sensor. Using MAF sensor cleaner from CRC.
Thank you, I will double-check all connections and see if a pin is an issue.