Brrr!!! It's hot?

In washing and waxing my baby the other day, I noticed a bit of electrical wiring (capped with a strange looking cone on a clip) dangling by the front lower grille. All the lights worked so either it had no relation to that or it was not damaged. A friend mentioned it's most likely the temperature sensor. Ahhh!!! I always pondered where such an item would be placed yet still accurately reflect the ambient temperature. So, I decided to test it out today and used a blow dryer to heat it up. Alas, the temperature gauge remained a steady 54F. Oh...what could it be then? My dad happened to pass by and after a bit of discussion, he mentioned the car must be on for it to work. Oh really? So I tried that and voila! A bit of blow drying and it went up to 56F before I decided the experiment was a success. I'm particularly glad I went through this exercise because I discovered why the sensor dislodged in the first place. Upon closer inspection of the clip (while blow drying), I discovered that it was broken, and that my attempt to reposition it was mere jury rigging that would surely undue itself in short order given the swiss cheese roads around here.