It took me quite a while to find this, because mine is located in the FRONT of the engine compartment and DOWN at the bottom below the inside A/C secondary fan.

Standing in front of the vehicle in the middle near the hood latch I looked DOWN just to the left and it was located in the area below the fan on the inside of engine compartment, in the location that would be approximately in front of the fog light.

As others have said, the unmistakable clip will confirm your find, though in this position you need to illuminate it and look closely.

After looking at the situation and trying to get my hand down there, I decided that this is a job for a mechanic. Although you probably could get it from the top if you remove some hoses and plastic vents, it might be easier from the bottom while up on a hoist.

 

I have a 2001 A6 and the temp sender is NOT where it is shown in pictures and videos. Avilearner, did you ever find yours? I have removed the air intake hose and all covers but don't see anything that looks like the sender behind the block on the passenger side. I can't believe it is so different on different Audi models! Any advice? Are there any other pics out there?

 

Hi, I couldnt find it either and in desperation I found a local mechanic who specialized in Auidi BMW and BENZ.

He knew exactly what was wrong and where the sensor was. I THINK it was near the radiator at the bottom passenger side, right behind the fog lamp, but I couldnt get it.

Didnt matter anyway, the sensor was the wrong one, that is the other problem I was running into, the parts never matched up when I bought them on line.

BUT I can tell you something INCREDIBLE! ALL OF MY PROBLEMS completely dissappeared once that 30$ sensor was replaced. The car started like a dream, drove like a dream, the white billowing smoke in the morning stopped and I have since put on another 10,000 miles without incident!!!

Audi was no help at all, it was as if they wanted me to dump it and buy a new vehicle....which would have been a shame given the shape of it. This little French guy working alone in his garage fixed it in one day for $250!!!!

My advice if to go on yelp find someone who specializes in Audi and check there ratings.

 

Dan, that was 2 VW's ago. I have an A4 2.8, now. However, they are in a similar place on both engines. There are 2 on the Turbo, but it's the top one that goes bad.
You have to take the 'Y' pipe off on the Turbo and perhaps some other crap. It is buried. But it's almost dead center at the back of the engine in front of the firewall. Very difficult to see. Look for a connector with 4 wires. It's black, and difficult to see. Once you find it, the sensor itself is green plastic or black. All of the photos I have seen are not very good. I should have taken one of my A4 2.8L too. But when your hands are full of grease, a photo is the last thing on your mind. Get an extra clip or two from your Audi dealer if the sensor you order doesn't have one. There is also an 'O' ring that may stay down in the block or tube. Get a new one. I found it handy to tie the U shaped clip to a piece of dental floss, in case I dropped it. Which I did several times struggling to get it back on. I finally had to have my daughter put the clip on because my hands were too big and clumsy to get down in there.

 

Thanks Rick999 - I was going crazy looking at the rear of the engine on the passenger side because all the posts showed it there. It's right where yours was - up by the radiator, front left of the block and VERY low. Impossible to work on from above unless you have spaghetti arms, even after removing all the air ducts, etc. I'll look from underneath today to see if that's an option, but I'm beginning to think this is not a typical DIY job. Thanks for the info.

 

Yes, thats exactly why I ended up finding a mechanic. But I'm glad I did because the sensors (2) I purchased from parts stores that were supposedly the right ones, were NOT correct.

Good luck!

 

I have a 2001 A6 and the temp sender is up FRONT, passenger side and very low. As someone said, it's about behind where a fog light would go. It's easier to see from under the car. To see it from the top, remove the air scoop and short plastic plenum (2 screws and it all slides right out). The hole to release the elec. connector is facing towards the passenger tire and really tough to get a small screwdriver in to allow you to release the connector. Is there any reason I can't first remove the plastic clip and pull the connector and sensor out of the tube in one piece ? Then I could easily remove the connector from the old sensor. Has anyone ever done it this way?

 

Rick 999 is right. After a bloody knuckle and a lot of profanity, I took my Audi A6 to a mechanic. He replaced it in about an hour. If your sensor is up front and low as mine is, don't try it yourself unless your car is on a lift.

 

All you need to do is get yourself some ramps and drive up on them and you'll have more than enough room to get this job done.

This shouldn't take a good mechanic 30 minutes to do. I would say more like 3 minutes, but they are probably charging you a half hour of time because that's the lowest they are willing to charge you for this job.

 

I'd like to try to clarify some confusion on the 2.7T coolant temp sensors. Please check me if I'm wrong but I think there are three coolant sensors in an Audi 2.7T...

1 - 4-pin on back of passenger side of engine that will send coolant temp to the temp gauge in the instrument cluster

2 - 2-pin on back of driver side of engine that turns on auxiliary coolant pump after car shuts down

3 - 4-pin on the underside of passenger side lower radiator hose near the radiator that actuates the electric coolant fan


Can anyone confirm this? Any corrections or added details?