While looking for the idle air valve on another mission, on the underside of the intake manifold I took out this thing that I think is a temperature sensor, and out came gushing 300 mls of coolant water. Is this normal? The sensor looks like a big copper bolt with 2 electrical connections. One goes to earth and the other I presume is a live wire.

The car seems to run fine except it idles low at start up and then idles between 2000-3500 rpms. Someone in the forum suggested that I check out the idle air valve. Incidently I cannot find the idle air valve underneath the intake manifold. But I did find a thing that is mounted on the engine side with 2 vacumn hoses and an electrical connecter. Could this be the valve?

The engine is a B230K, manual, 150K miles, 2b5 pierburg carb.

Thanks in advance.

"The engine is a B230K, manual, 150K miles, 2b5 pierburg carb."

Ah- this would be why you don't have an idle air valve. It's not
fuel injected!! If you're experiencing idle troubles, you'll
likely need to get a rebuild kit for that carb, and a fwe cans of
carburetor cleaner, and clean it up and get it back to spec.
The same troubles apply, as far as gunk on the throttle plate
and passages causing erratic operation and poor air metering.

As for removing the temp sensor, yes, sure you'll get a bunch
of coolant out of the hole- you just drained the water jacket of
the head! Make sure your level is OK after a couple of hot/cold
cycles with the engine.
--
Rob Bareiss, New London, CT 86 244, 87 244, 88 744

Well, you removed the sensor which is in direct contact with the coolant in the head so you should expect a gusher. It sounds like you have found the idle motor. Is there an arrow on it at the hose connection end?