93 2.3 runs cold

[macx]

Bought the truck a couple months ago, been working on it ever since.
Horribly neglected. About 80 miles, I don't think any of the fluids had
ever been changed.

Anyway, had to flush the engine twice before I got relatively clean water
out of it. Radiator and overflow bottle were so crudded up I just got a new
radiator and a good clean used overflow bottle.

The T-stat was also stuck open with all the crud, so a new 192 T-Stat.
I "glued" it into the housing with a thin smear of silicone that I let dry
overnite so it didn't slip out of place when I put the housing on.

When I got the truck, I saw it just barely ever got up to the bottom line
on Normal. After the new T-stat and flush etc, it now warms up a lot
quicker and stays at that temp, but it still doesn't go above the lowest
mark at the bottom of the Normal range.

I did put a new gauge sender in, and have now tried it with 2 oem gauges.
AFter the sender didn't do it, I thought maybe the gauge was bad. I put
in a cluster with a tach, and that gauge reads the same.

I "sort of" flushed the heater core - didn't take it out - but do get some
heat out of it. But it's just real warm, not hot like it should be if the
engine was truly up to the right operating temp.

I used 1 gallon of anti freeze, so it's about 40%.

Any ideas?

I've got an analoge electric after market gauge with numbers,
but haven't found any place to install the sender other than
the stock location. I guess I could do that just to see what
that gauge says, but thought maybe somebody would have
some experience with that on a 2.3 and be able to give me
some good advice rather than just resorting to trying things.

Thanks!

 

[wr250rdr]

i have a 94 2.3 and that is normal for my truck to be just barly in the normal range and its the same thing for my buddie with a 2.3 it operates fine at those temps and generally speaking a motor running cool, so long as its in the normal operating range is a good thing.

 

[k3eaxk3eax]

I strongly suggest that you actually measure the temperature with thermometer. You may be at 190F. even though your dash guage reads otherwise. However remember that the temp at the filler-neck is lower that the temp in the block. The temp in the block should be at the thermostat's setting.

Al

 

[kryptonitecb]

This is nothing abnormal for the rangers. My 4.0 reads that way, and a friend of mine had a 2.** that did the same thing. His never moved very far for 6 years till one day the head gasket blew. That was the only time he ever saw the gauge make it to the halfway mark. Not getting hot air from your heater core means you need a new heater core.

Sent from the road while ignoring traffic

 

[Explorin94]

The guage on the dash is merely a switch....DO NOT EVER TRUST IT! Put the new temp sender in the place where the old sensor is. Now becareful that you don't take the temp sender for the computer out as it has 2 wires. You want the send with the push on connector that goes over the stud (one wire).

 

[macx]

Have already installed the new sender, got the correct one, did that after I saw
the original gauge didn't get up into more the middle of the operating range.

I guess I'll put the aftermarket gauge in with the numbers to see what it says.
On Ford efi, if the computer temp sensor doesn't get past a certain temp the
efi stays in "cold engine" mode, altho I don't think that's happening.

Also, if oil doesn't get up into a reasonable temp range, like when some hot rodders
put i.e. a 150 or 160 T stat in, the bottom part of the cylinders don't get adequate
lubrication. Of course that takes awhile for any effects of that to show up.

I know my heater core needs a really good flush or, most likely, just to be replaced.

I'll try the numbered gauge and see what that tells me.

Thx for the input!