'96 4.0 Sport, manual

Hey guys, I'm trying to replace my broken coolant temp sender (the one on the back of the block) so I can restore function to my temp gauge on the instrument panel. A while ago I ordered a new one from RockAuto, but it was bigger than the broken one I pulled out of my block and did not want to go into the hole. So, after some time, I found a '96 sport at a junkyard and pulled the sensor. Now I'm here about to replace mine with the JY part and I find that once again, it is bigger than the one in my block. Pics below, sorry for the size.

So as you can see its about a .01 in difference. Has anyone run into this issue before? Should I just jam it into the block anyway (if possible)? Very confused by this. The part number is 56027012 2755, stamped onto the sensors. The last 4 digits differ between the my two sensors but I think that's just a serial.

 

i recently replaced mine on the 94 xj with this one from oreilly and was a perfect fit

https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/b...peraure+sensor

marc

 

Just went to O'Reilly. Brought my calipers, the sensor seems good! About to install it. Thanks for the info, Marc. Still curious about the RockAuto and the JY part being too big for my block, though. My XJ is definitely a '96.. It has OBDII. Maybe the block changed mid-year during production and I have an earlier model?

 

thats a good question.. hehe i dont know

marc

 

That's certainly possible. I've heard that '96 is a goofy year for the XJs. Some parts are the same as '95s, but other parts are the same as '97s.

At least with the VW's I've worked on, most of the time when there was a mid-year change the parts places (and stealerships) would be able to tell by the VIN which part (early or late) was needed in a given circumstance. That doesn't seem to be the case with Jeeps though.