dealer part, no doubt. Doesn't seem likely that it would be bad though. I used to make thermocouples to measure EGT's in jet engines. It's two wires of different alloys, and the voltage thru them changes with heat. A computer (or my multimeter from radio shack) takes the signal, and converts it to a temp.
You could check the voltage thru it at a known temperature, and see what it corresponds to on a reference table. Only problem is knowing which wire types are used.
http://instrumentation-central.com/p...ence_table.htm <reference charts
The ones I used to make were Alumel/Chromel 'K type' its a pretty average thermocouple, I'd try that, bet you'll get lucky.
BTW, knowing this, you can make as many circuits as you'd like, and measure temperature anywhere on your car w/ a volt meter. Oil temp, EGT's, fuel temp, underhood ambient temp, air intake temp... possibilities are endless. Or useless. I'm feeling lately like unless its turbo/engine related, i've maxed the potential of this forum as a resource, and what I can add can sometimes be over the heads of others. Thats an unrelated micro-vent that you're lucky enough to get in your thread with all the rest of this rambling. ; )
Outside air temp
