ECT, ACT??????? HELP

The gauge's temp sender is in the driver's side front of the lower intake. It has the threaded top. This has nothing to do with anything except the gauge.

The ECT is a sensor on the passenger side. This is what the EEC looks at.

The ACT (aka IAT) is in the intake.

What exactly is your car doing and what have you done to diagnose it? If you have a DMM and want to spend some time, diagnostics will save you money.

Good luck.

you can buy a code reader for less than $20

The one pictured in the autozone link is the ECT (Engine Coolant Temp). This sensor feeds the coolant temp to the ECU. A bad one will affect the way the engine runs.

The one pictured in the parts america link is the sending unit for the temp gauge in the cluster. This will not cause any issues with the way the engines runs. It's for the temp gauge only.

If you have a multimeter, you can measure the voltage output of the ECT as the engine warms up. Do a search and you will find the table for this sensor. Once you find the table, you can verify if the sensor is sending the ECU realistic values.

Probe the two wire leading out of the ECT. Hook them to a multimeter. Start the car with the engine cold. The coolant temp should be very close to atmospheric conditions. Let the car idle and watch the multimeter as the engine warms up, write down the voltage values every minute. Once the car warms up and the thermostat opens, the peak reading from the sensor should be just above the opening temp for your thermostat. Using the table, find the temp value corresponding to your recorded voltage readings. If everything looks reasonable, it's probably not the ECT.

I have done this before with these two sensor and many others. Saves money, rules out potential problems, and you learn alot.

BTW, you can also do this with the ACT.

Is your car still speed density? Might want to look at the MAP sensor, too. Better yet, it's probably best if you pull the codes.

Heres a pic of the ACT location. Ignore my terrible paint skills.

check your tps. my car used to run WWAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY rich and surge really bad and i could never figure out why. turns out my tps was broke as chit

Did you run codes yet? Your CEL doesnt work so you need to check codes periodically.

Again, a paperclip, DMM and some time can save you huge amounts of money.

Good luck.