Running Temp

[Dark Matter]

I've been on this website for a while just reading, but havent posted much. My temp gauge Never reaches the "normal" area. attached is a pic of a cluster the same as mine, except mine is the stock one.

the black bar above the temp gauge is the range it goes on it has NEVER passed the end of that bar. the other lines on the other gauges are where they usually sit. i read on this page http://www.cadvision.com/blanchas/Ranger/temperature.html that my truck is giving too much gas because the computer still thinks the truck isnt warmed up yet. i just want to know if this guys info is legit and if i need to make the engine hotter.

 

[bjdm151]

It really depends on how the gauge reads. Many of the gauges that don't actually show numbers actually represent a narrow band of information. The needle might not really move until you hit about 140F and the first line might be about 160F.

Where this temp really comes into play is when your car goes from open loop to closed loop strategy. When you first turn the car on it will run a little rich till it is properly warmed up. Once the vehicle comes up in temp it will lean it out a bit to the normal range.

I'm assuming since you posed this question you don't have the ability to monitor loop status. If you can't The best thing to do would be to get the car up to where it normally operates and then check the upper radiator hose with a temp gun. If its above 180 you should be fine but you might want to get your gauge checked out just incase it is affecting your loop status. If you are operating below that you should probably look at getting it repaired especially if your mileage seems low.

 

[locovaca]

Well, the temp gauge sender is notorious for being crap. It not working doesn't mean your engine isn't warming up.

Does your heater work? If you can get "hot" air then you most likely are fine, from an engine standpoint (in addition to what bjdm said).

If the sender is bad, it's a $5 part. You'll have to drain the coolant to change it, but I had the same problem with my temp gauge and everything was fine after the sender replacement. And if you read some of the other posts around here, you'll see that they go bad on nearly every truck.

 

[Dark Matter]

the heater works just fine. so i guess its the sender, i will try that out. the truck runs fine, i just thought that it was wasting gas.