Cold lower radiator hose

[dasrider]

So my dad and I have done a lot of maintenance on his old 1994 2.3L Ranger recently: timing belt, thermostat, upper and lower radiator hoses, water pump, plugs, plug wires, front bearings, shocks and so on. He's bought a new truck so he's "gifting" this one to me and eventually my son when turns 16 in a few years.

After refilling and driving for the past few days the temp gauge only kinda gets halfway between the lowest mark to the 'N', I've read these engines typically run cold so I'm not too worried. However, after driving about 15 miles tonight in 40 degree temps, I checked the coolant hoses immediately after shutting down and the lower radiator hose was cool, almost cold. The rest of the hoses were nice and hot, the heater blows very hot air and I didn't notice any other issues. Temp gauge still somewhere between the lowest mark and 'N'.

Is this cold lower radiator hose an issue I should be concerned with? Could it be a restriction somewhere in the radiator that signals needing to replace it?

 

[kimcrwbr1]

If it is running good and the heater keeps your tootsies warm the thermostat is doing its job. You can try covering the radiator about half way up and see if you can get it to warm up a little more. Just stick a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator the engine will run better about half way on the temp guage.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

Just means the radiator is doing its job.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

^^^ this

 

[dasrider]

Cool, thanks guys.

 

[scotts90ranger]

The upper hose should be hot, bottom colder (if they are both the same temp, the radiator isn't doing squat). It's not the engines, it's the gauges that seem to be funky for some reason... on my Ranger, it's normal for the gauge to be low, if it's standing straight up there's a problem... been like that for 14 years so it's just staying like that... with 3 vehicles right now it's harder to remember that but hey

 

[dasrider]

^ Yeah, I was a little concerned since the temp gauge would rest on the 'N' before the work we did. After we replaced the thermostat, water pump and radiator hoses I was keeping a watchful eye on the entire cooling system. I probably would have never noticed the lower radiator hose being cold otherwise.

Anyway, the old girl runs about as good as she ever did and purrs (as much as it's gonna purr I guess).