Temp gauge barely moves on my truck

[kool_ranger]

On my 88, the temp gauge barely moves on my truck, it sits on the line at the bottom of the gauge where it says cold, is that for real? Shouldn't it be a little higher then that, like sit around the middle? 180 degree thermo in the truck, it's also winter here and gets quite cold sometimes.... Thinking maybe it's not workin right or it actually runs cold because i don't get all that much heat out of the truck....

 

[PaleBlue90]

mine dont work on my 90 or 89, when it warms up im just gonna install a aftermarket one

 

[ZMan]

your thermostat might be sticking open. If you've never done it it wouldn't be a bad idea to change your thermostat and flush the coolant.

 

[scotts90ranger]

mine barely moves too, it's considered normal... at or just above the C is normal operating temperature, if it stands straight up, watch the coolant level

 

[Jspafford]

My guage never worked right either. I don't know if you've ever saw what makes them tick.. There is a round terminal slid over a screw that it attached to a electrical sensor sticking out of the block.

I pulled mine out and put in a mechanical temperature guage. It's nice knowing the temp now, I can watch it rise to exactally 190, then the t-stat opens, it drops back down to 160 or so and then rises back up to 190.

I've had it as high as 210 in the summer 100 degree with a/c on high and truck sitting idling.

The stock guage doesn't have anything on a mechanical.

 

[Danger FX4 Ranger]

+1. My 90' does the same thing. A buddy of mine has an 89' with the 2.3, 5 speed and his does the same. My ex-fiance had a 91' extended cab, 4.0 OHV, A4LD and hers did the same. Seems to be a trend.

 

[Chic N Stew]

Check your lines, make sure they are getting hot, if not, your thermostat maybe stuck open

 

[kunar]

he said his heat doesnt work all that well, i would bet on a stuck thermostat. every truck i have ever seen will atleast get the needle past the line.

 

[tanbuddy]

ON my truck, in the winter it runs about on the line on the cold side of the normal range. if it goes to the middle of normal, i see steam outta my hood.

 

[ozzy85]

My gauge doesn't move a whole lot either. Everything seems to be in good working order. The heater will roast me out of the cab in short order. The needle will move a little more during summer, but not much. It's a 2.3, so maybe I just generate less heat.

 

[mikhail]

so a 180* thermostat is stock on a 2.9L? mine had a 192 and when i asked for a replacement they gave me a 192.

sorry for the thread jack

 

[mikediesel]

I had the same problem until today I took the thermostat housing off and found the thermostat was not seated all the way there are two small tabs that keep it from going into the block and loosing its seal against the housing they needed to be spread out a little bit also the housing of the actual thermostat was just about blocking the hole for the heater core. I reassembled and now it’s nice and toasty.

 

[Jspafford]

What I am trying to saw is not so much the guage always reads cold, I am saying, since the guage always reads cold even when the heat is hot, it means it's not reading right. By the time it got anywhere near the "H" it would be way to late.

If your guage stays over in C all the time, do yourself and your truck a favor and get a mechanical guage.

Took me 1/2 hour to install at night outside, that included drilling the hole through the firewall.

 

[mikhail]

or you could just get a new sending unit, its easy to change took me 5 min. at most

 

[Jspafford]

or you could just get a new sending unit, its easy to change took me 5 min. at most

Yeah, but it is still an electrical guage. Meaning anything in the electrical system can cause it to fluctuate.

To each their own, I prefer to know what temp my engine is, not guess what the electrical system thinks it is.