1990 ranger 2.3 trouble


cball917

10+ Year Member

Joined
Jun 2, 2010
Messages
5
Points
3,001
Vehicle Year
1990
Transmission
Manual
i bought this truck for a fuel saver. got some issues that i would like to take care of before i put it on the road. the fuel gauge seems not to work right. it shows 1/4 tank when truck is off and when switched on bottoms below empty. it has a new fuel pump and sending unit less than 2 mths old. i bought a used cluster and still does the same thing. however when you remove the anti slosh mod from cluster it peaks out past full.?????

second prob is the temp gauge will move just a tad. after it gets warm the needle is resting about on the "c". it neer gets any higher?? i have a new sensor for it but i cant find where it goes. i was also going to replace the temp sender?/ i did not know it had these 2 different parts?/? any help would be appreciated. and yes i am a newbie thanks for letting me in:icon_thumby:
 
I can't help on the gas gage if everything is new, it should work...

as for the temp gage, that's completely normal for these things, I wouldn't bother worrying about it, mine's been like that for the 10 years I've had the truck, if it ever stands straight up then worry as it's on the verge of overheating...
 
same thing, the temp is correct like that, it goes very slowly heat and can see the son of connection to the pump if it is clean or very Badly corroded.I already changed mine because it had a (tiny hole on the sends unit (float sunk) and it was always at the bottom of the tank
 
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where is the coolant temp sensor located on the engine?? 2.3
 
i looked for about an hour today. i can not find the temp sensor
 
coolant outlet thermostat housing
 
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for some reason i still cant find any sensor located in or around the thermo housing or any where close??
 
that's not where it is on a '90. on a '90 the gage sender is near the oil pressure sensor under the intake manifold (the oil pressure sensor is directly behind the #4 cylinder intake runner on the cylinder head), near the oil filter.
 
I forgot to mention, the stock sensor from '90 read like yours then I put the '86 turbo engine in with it's sensor, my gage works exactly the same. most people that say they change theirs say it only works right for a while then goes back to the old ways... I don't know why that is as the one in my explorer works fine...
 
so is the temp gauge worth fooling with??? or just take the parts back. i just would like it to work normally. but if its not going to work long i will invest the money somewhere else
 
my temp gauge is always cold. One time my gauge started looking like it was working it was in the normal range about middle ways. But it actually was telling me it was hot my radiator busted. So your good as long as it's cold.
 
Near idler pulley on a 90 °I not worry me with your temp sensor
 
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