Where is the ambient air temp sensor located on 2019 Ford Escape?

Question

Doing some work on car in preparation for smog test. Check engine lamp for Ambient Temp Sensor. Normally these are located within the grill opening, in front of radiator / condenser.

I'm just not seeing one on this vehicle. Grill is tight package, and there is a grill shutter system in place.

Does anyone know where to look for ambient temp sensor on a 2019 Ford Escape?

Note, I did see a video for 2017 which claimed sensor was behind the cornering lamp. I removed the drivers side cornering lamp, but that was a fail. Additionally there is no air flow thru that cornering lamp bezel.

Many thanks.

Answer 1

So it turns out the ambient temperature sensor is mounted near the bottom of the lower grill opening, on the drivers side of the vehicle.

And here is a close up...

But wait, there is more.. How do you get there? While you can pry the sensor up from its mount, there is no way to disconnect the wiring. You get to the back of the sensor by going in thru the drivers side cornering lamp. (OOps. the video I watched the first time was correct. You just have to look around a tight corner...) Use a plastic prybar to remove the black bezel (it just snaps in, no fasteners) then remove two screws holding the side lamp in place. This give access to the area behind the ambient air temp sender.

And in my case, this was ugly. There was no direct defect in the sensor. Instead I found one of the two wires "cut" about 3/8" from the hardshell connector. What I did was cut the remaining wire in approx the same place. I pulled both wires thru a locator, and there was just enough length sticking thru the side marker opening to make a solder joint / heat shrink connection. I added 8" of wire to the mix to make it easier to solder everything. So I made four solder joints, with four pieces of heat shrink. Everything worked out well...