What is the purpose of this sensor/wire. Obviously it must be something with temp but I don’t know what it does since the gauge is controlled by the temp sensor on the side of the head. Was curious to know if it matters or not since I’m cleaning up my wiring while completing my motor swap. 84 camaro starship Berlinetta

 

That is the sensor that "tells" the ECM the engine temperature so it can properly adjust the fuel mixture depending on the engine's temperature.

If the motor swap involves a non computer controlled carb then yeah, you don't need it.

But, if the swap involves retaining the car's original computer controlled carb and ECM, then you most certainly do need it.

 

Thank you! All the stuff that was controlled by the ecm in the engine bay is all gone and wires were even cut out before I got the car. Only reason I keep the ecm is I read it possibly controls my digital gauges. One less wire to run to the front now though!!

 

Hi 84 StarshipBerly,

That is one thing I can't answer, as I've never worked on a Berlinetta, but if you really want to know if the ECM controls your digital gauges, power up the car and observe that the gauges work. Power down the car and unplug the ECM. Power the car up again. Gauges still work? Then the ECM don't control them. Gauges don't work? Better plug the ECM back in. I'm not sure if the speedometer signal goes through the ECM so that's something you'll want to make sure of before you get rid of the ECM. One thing I do know you need the ECM for is the TCC (Torque Converter Clutch), the so called "lockup" feature of your 700R4's torque converter. There are "stand alone" kits that will control the TCC in the absence of the ECM. The one member here who is the absolute Guru on Berlinettas is "John in RI" , you may want to PM him with your Berlinetta questions.

 

Yeah @John in RI is the resident Camaro Berlinetta expert here on the forum.

He even has his own website dedicated to the Camaro Berlinetta.

https://berlinetta.info/

He's also a guru on repairing the factory radios for our cars too and probably other things.

 

I’ll have to get in contact with him for sure especially like my radio and pods don’t work the best. My tcc also stopped locking up probably two years ago now I assumed it was the solenoid that is on the transmission but haven’t really looked into it since I haven’t been driving it much lately. Hopefully it’s just that and not the ecm.

 

Nope,.... it doesn't control the gauges.

* As described earlier, that sensor is your CTS for the ECM.

Since you've already removed all the SMOG, installed a Edelbrock Carb & ( I'm guessing ) a vacuum advance distributor,.... the only thing the ECM will be doing is controlling the TCC lock-up. Since your TCC lock-up is a problem, my advise is to unplug the ECM and remove it completely, then "snake" the ECM harness into the engine bay and remove it completely, then purchase an aftermarket TCC lock-up kit.

You can COMPLETELY remove the ECM and harness from your Berlinetta and none of your gauges will be effected; This is true for all 82-87 Camaro's. HOWEVER: 86 and 87 Firebirds will require grounding the VSS Buffer after the ECM harness is removed. ( Removing the ECM harness in those cars removes the VSS buffer ground connection - so you'd have to custom ground the VSS to get the electric speedo working again. )

 

Yes the only things that were left from the ecm harness was the plug going to the distributor for the electronic advance but I now put a vacuum advance distributor and then about three ground wires coming from the ecm harness and the orange wire that goes to the battery. Already had an edelbrock carb when I got it too. I mainly just left all of those alone since I wasn't sure if they mattered or not. Definitely will probably remove the ecm harness someday since it'll clean up my engine bay a lot.