The radiator fan has stopped working on our 1999 Civic. We were going to replace the fan motor unit, but a direct connect of the fan motor to the battery showed that the motor was working. This left only wiring or the radiator fan activation sensor as possible causes.
We bought a new activation sensor totest if that was the cause.This screws into the thermostat cover (which is an alumimum hemisphere). We were able to remove the old sensor, but when screwing in the new sensor, the top of the sensor snapped off in the tightening process (no, it was not overtighened base on the torque on the torque wrench...).
The result is that we now have only the bottom of the sensor screwed into the thermostat cover. The sensor is a closed device that reads temperature by conduction, so there is no water leak from the sensor, and since the radiator fan was not working anyway, we can still drive the car as long as we don't have to spend much time driving slowly in traffic. However, we need to remove the remaining bottom half of the sensor from the thermostat cover. What sort of tool could we use to do this? We can remove the thermostat cover from the car, but because it is screwed in fairly tight, my concern is that a slot in it plus a screwdriver might not generate enough force to back it out.
Ideas please!

Thanks

Mary Long

 

got enough room in ther for a small set of vicegrips?

 

Remove the thermostat housing with the sensor, and then post some clear photographs. The pictures may help spawn some good ideas.

 

Take the thermostat cover out of the car and work on it in the shop. Worst case you have to buy a new thermostat cover.

You can put a jumper wire between the pins in the plug that goes to the sensor and the fan will run all the time the key is on. That will allow you to drive until you can work on the sensor. Do not leave it like that for a long time or the fan motor will wear out prematurely, and it's a relatively expensive part.