what is this?

Just as the title says. It looks liek some sort of thermostat sensor or something and seems to be attached "indirectly" to the carburetor. When i say indirectly i mean those two wires go to this plug on the left side of the carb. And the sensor is attached to this junction in front of the carb where the, for lack of the right word, "big radiator hose" meets the engine.

P.S.: i added some pics to show how bad the cap and rotor got chewed and melted.

http://i35.tinypic.com/mtm4uc.jpg
http://i38.tinypic.com/opo7es.jpg
http://i37.tinypic.com/25rpbhl.jpg
http://i33.tinypic.com/15mkbhw.jpg

The 'thing' is called the coolant temperature sensor, or CTS.

Damn leave it to Silicon to take my one chance at glory. I was reading this literally as he was typing the answer. :banghead:

The 'thing' is called the coolant temperature sensor, or CTS.

So this probably isn't the culprit of the car running poor correct?

Oh, it most certainly can be! If you have a problem with this, the computer will operate in 'closed loop' mode (also known as 'limp home mode'), and you will have a MIL (malfunction indicator lamp, aka Service Engine Soon or Check Engine).

EngineandJuice: If you snooze, you lose! ;)

Damn leave it to Silicon to take my one chance at glory. I was reading this literally as he was typing the answer. :banghead:

lol i love it when that happens! its a test of your typing skills and a race to the finish "submit button"