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I'm not sure which sensor you're talking about, but either there are two temp sensors or its separate. I know when my sensor died, it didn't activiate the fans, however my gauge cluster still worked correctly
There should be two sensors, one at the bottom of the radiator and the other on the block near the thermostat. The one on the radiator controls when the fan/s come on and the other on the block is what you see on your gauge.