This 245 is not used often. Many months past I noticed that the fuel comsumption was decreased significantly from what I had been getting. Since I do not use it often I did not attend to it. Now I have to get it inspected

Yesterday I cleaned the throtle body, replaced the flame trap (noticed that the S tube from the oil accumulator was cracked open and leaking), replaced the rotor and distributor cap, replaced the spark plugs (were wet and off gap) and replaced the air filter.

On test drive I sitll do not get full power, and it appears that the themostat is not opening when hot.

There is oil and grime on the (cold temp sensor) which must have been leaking from the cracked S tube to the flame trap. Could this have caused a lack of the "thermistor" voltage signal to the ECU causing increased fuel use?

I don't think that the Cold temp sensor (a thermistor) encased in a brass sleeve could fail. so the only diagnosis I can figure is lack on contact at the connector caused by corrsoion or oil contamination.

Is it possible to take the cold temp sesnor out to inspect on the bench without difficulty. IF so, can it be done without taking off the entire intake manifold?

Can it be done from above?

Thanks for readcing. I would like to get some opinions based on past experience before I look into this further.