Heat expansion of copper could be worse that the Aluminium....not sure.

But i reckon the heat should burn up any rust/oxide stuff in the gaps.

I've been meaning to buy a blow torch, I'll give it a couple more attempts with the rust eater and the vice grips, then a 'heat' solution, then belt the absolute #### out of it, then drill it to death.

That should just about cover it I think - I'll stick the solution that worked on my webpage when it is done.

hmmm what about using a heat gun to heat up the alloy head slightly around the temp sensor reccess so it expands a tad then use ice or cold water from the fridge with an eye dropper on the copper sensor to keep it cold and contracted? it just might work bit of science experiment here bwoahahaha

You may actually be onto something with the heating up - just did a google on thermal expansion coefficient...and the numbers are in.

Material Hi Lo (inches per F)
Aluminum & its Alloys 13.7 11.7
Coppers 9.8 7.7
Alloy Steels 8.6 6.3

Looks like Aluminium expands at a faster rate than copper.

Now just depends on how the head expands - if it expands inwards more than outwards in the sensor hole it wont be easier....but I think it warrants an attempt if all else fails.


Source of thermal expansion data

I think the hole would expand because the alloy will expand outwards as a whole unit, kind of like heating a roller bearing up so it can be slipped onto an electric motor drive shaft! we used inductive coils to induce an electromagnetic field into the bearing and it would warm up to about 130 degrees and expand about 40thou... thats the difference between slipping on, or destroying the bearing and shaft by beating it with a hammer trying to make it fit!

Cut or grind the top of the sender so its flat then find the centre & start drilling it out. Go from about a 3mm drill bit to what ever size you need to go to

maybe a little too cautious, but i say screw heating up the head at one point, might warp it???

unless it was still bolted to the block

Hey all,

I chickened out of doing anything with the sensor and just left it stuck in the motor.

As this A12 was a practice engine I decided not to loose too much sleep over it.

I picked up a Dremel tool recently - so once I get some confidence up with that tool (and a good set of safety glasses) I'll try hacking it up.

Until then that temp sensor is stayin.

WOOOOOOOSE! cmon mate just smash it smash it smash it!!

At least you don't have to worry about the cost of getting a new one, I bought one from repco today, cost me all of $5.82

$5.82....hehe

Geez these Datsun can be expensive to run...

If the sensor doesn't come out of the A15...I'll be going back to the A12 and practicing my smashing techniques...but need and motivation won the day recommending the pike philosophy to me.