Yesterday I managed to crunch the front of my car and seem to have escaped with out any major damage. However on inspecting the car a bit more this morning it turns out something snapped from in between the bumper and the radiator and I don't have a clue what it is. It's a plastic bracket about the height of a credit card that looks like it was attached to the bottom of the inside of the bumper, and holds up what looks to me like a power cable of some kind. If it is a connector I can't spot where it's popped out from but I know absolutely nothing about cars so it could well be something else entirely. The car still seems to run fine, and nothing on the dash is obviously wrong but if anyone could identify what it is for me it would be much appreciated. The bit: Where it was:
Could be. The thermostat on the dash still moves but the broken bit is close enough to its original place that I suppose it would. I'll try moving it about and see if the dial changes. Thanks
bring the car to the garage and just ask the mechanic to look at the part.. im sure hell tell you what it is free of charge..
The temp sensor is probably actually on the inlet manifold, that looks more like the power connector for the fan on the rad. I'll compare with mums corsa later. EDIT: I think its the movement sensor as stated above by someone else:
Thanks guys. Garage seems like a good idea, whatever it is I suppose I better get it fixed. I'm pretty sure it isn't an airbag sensor as the car doesn't have any airbags. I'm impressed you managed to get such a clear photo Xen0phobiak. That's the bit that I broke, but I was having a nightmare finding somewhere I could get a clear photo from.
some cars automatically turn off the engine and activates chrash light. just dunno if tiht is on your opel/vauxhall (they are the same thing)
looks very similar to the outside temp sensor on the Saab 93, that sits in a similar postion on the front bumper.
It's the temp sensor, if you don't have the digi read out or just don't care what the outside temp it is then dont worry about it.
Bit late, but I can also confirm that it's the air temp sensor for your readout in the middle of your dash. Don't worry about it.
I think you should fix up that rust before it eats your car, get a wire wheel and scrub of the rust, then brush on some underbody coating you can get at auto parts stores and the problem wont get worse. I don't know how you guys deal with it in the UK with all that rain, but my car had surface rust on one of the pulleys (like when rotors get surface rust) when I got it (totally normal) and it drove me bananas so I cleaned it wd-40 and then alcohol and now its gone. I still get nightmares from when my family used to own a French built fiat that was more rust than car.
