Originally Posted by puwit321

I extracted the sensor, shorted the probe thongs, and then re-soldered the probes back to the tamper resistant teeth inside the sensor thus closing the circuit loop. I had to cut out a section of the sensor housing to expose the contacts. The difference here is that my shortened probes are almost flushed to the sensor and do not go through the new radiator fins. After resealing the sensor, I simply glued the side of the sensor to the plastic housing of the fan shroud so that it will still be heated up by the radiator indirectly. So far it's been over 200 miles and no more check engine light. If I had to replace the radiator again, it will be a simple swap without touching the sensor.

Originally Posted by tvguy2005

I had a leak develop in my DOR radiator and I don't live in a state where Mitsu will honor their emmisions warranty, and the DOR radiator was unavailable, so I got creative with a standard radiator (from amazon) and re-mounting the old sensor on it.

Basically, I surgically removed the sensor from the leaky radiator by cutting the metal band that holds it on and soldering a wire across the contacts that band snaps into (read below for more detail).



1. Cut the metal strap from the front side of the radiatior under the little foam bit that protects the metal band. You have to cut the band in the corners (I used a die grinder, and did a lot more cutting than you really need to, but this was exploratory surgery) and cut into the radiator material a bit due to the way it's designed, refer to red dotted line in the photo. Once you cut it through, it can be pulled out from the back of the radiator.

2. Next I took a soldering gun and ran it along the sides of the metal strap to melt away the plastic where the green metal strap plugs into the plastic sensor, refer to the orange boxes in the photo. This needs to be done in all 4 places.

3. Once the plastic is removed, the metal strap can be carefully removed by lifting it up and out of the area(s) you just excavated. (resist the urge to pull the straps out the way they went in, you'll probably damage the metal teeth that hold them in there...we need to preserve those)

4. If you carefully wipe away the gel sealant that you have just exposed, you will see a metal saw tooth coming out of the sensor body. Those teeth are used to hold the strap in AND THEY ALSO COMPLETE THE CIRCUIT OF THE TEMPERATURE SENSOR THROUGH THE METAL BAND. (anti-tamper feature)

5. Find a piece of scrap wire, at least 18 AWG I'd say, and cut and strip it such that it can be soldered to all 4 of the little metal sawtooth contacts. The sawteeth readily accept solder. (The metal band material can't be soldered and it's very difficult to weld...I tried everything!!)

6. Once the wire is soldered across all 4 contacts, seal it up with a bit of silicone sealant or equivalent.

7. Install the modified sensor in the same location on the radiator it was before (so it fits through the fan shroud) using a few zip ties.

8. Plug it in and complete the rest of re-assembly. Ta-da!!! No engine light!!!

9. Buy yourself a beer with the hundreds of dollars you saved in the cost of a DOR radiator/renting a car because you can't pass inspection/etc.

Originally Posted by puwit321

Similar to the work-around by tvguy2005, I replaced my factory radiator with an aftermarket and hacked the existing sensor. I extracted the sensor, shorted the probe thongs, and then re-soldered the probes back to the tamper resistant teeth inside the sensor thus closing the circuit loop. I had to cut out a section of the sensor housing to expose the contacts. The difference here is that my shortened probes are almost flushed to the sensor and do not go through the new radiator fins. After resealing the sensor, I simply glued the side of the sensor to the plastic housing of the fan shroud so that it will still be heated up by the radiator indirectly. So far it's been over 200 miles and no more check engine light. If I had to replace the radiator again, it will be a simple swap without touching the sensor. I was really pissed to learn that Mitsubishi forces customers to buy a $700 radiator instead of a $150 aftermarket replacement. I call that automotive extortion. Attached is the picture of my hacked sensor.

Originally Posted by tvguy2005

I'm happy to report that my fix (hack) described in a previous post is holding up great!!

On a related note: I just had a failure of the radiator fill neck (where the radiator cap goes) at 225,000 miles, and it made me think to look back at this thread. The small hose (going to the trans cooler) coming off the tee under the fill neck broke off when I touched it lightly after noticing some wetness in that area. Turns out that the fiber reinforced plastic polymer has degraded over time such that it easily crumbles when a light pressure is applied. Save yourself the hassle of a side-of-the-road fix and replace it now if you are over 200k miles. It's hard to find on the shelf anywhere but can be ordered inexpensively from amazon or ebay. Cheers!

Originally Posted by nvguy67

I called the dealership and they can order me a replacement radiator and install for a grand. I live in Nevada and it is not even one of the states that require this radiator and sensor. I replaced my radiator with a standard one before knowing about this sensor and now do not have one to modify. Dealer says you can't buy the sensor by itself. What can I do now?