Water Temp Cold?

[cmikee]

Originally I had noticed my water temp erratic. It consistently changed and ran hot when idle so I found a leak in the radiator and had hardly any water in it. I bought a new radiator and replaced the thermostat.

Now it runs very cool. It barely get's above the Cold Line. In my experience that means that the thermostat is stuck open. Since the probability of that is low I am not sure what else could be going on. Does anyone know how to get the actual reading from the temp sending unit?

 

[modelageek]

Originally I had noticed my water temp erratic. It consistently changed and ran hot when idle so I found a leak in the radiator and had hardly any water in it. I bought a new radiator and replaced the thermostat.

Now it runs very cool. It barely get's above the Cold Line. In my experience that means that the thermostat is stuck open. Since the probability of that is low I am not sure what else could be going on. Does anyone know how to get the actual reading from the temp sending unit?

did you use the correct temp motorcraft tstat?

 

[modelageek]

Originally I had noticed my water temp erratic. It consistently changed and ran hot when idle so I found a leak in the radiator and had hardly any water in it. I bought a new radiator and replaced the thermostat.

Now it runs very cool. It barely get's above the Cold Line. In my experience that means that the thermostat is stuck open. Since the probability of that is low I am not sure what else could be going on. Does anyone know how to get the actual reading from the temp sending unit?

I looked the tstat up on rockauto for you . I think the original is a 195. they also sell ones that are 180.....if you put in the 180 that might explain the issue......and again the motorcraft tstat have the correct seal and they have a bleeder hole in them.......make sure your system is filled.......if you dont have the hole in the tstat the system will have a hard time bleeding and working properly...........these engines do run cool but you should be able to get the gauge up

 

[cmikee]

The thermostat is a 195 degree one but it was not from Motorcraft. It was a cheap version.

 

[modelageek]

If it was a Stant? It might be ok. Anything else I would replace with a MC. You can tell if the tstat is open by feeling the upperhose when you start it cold. There should not be coolant going thru it. The system has to be completly full and all air out of it(the right tstat helps here) was the system and gauge working before yo had the radiator issue?

 

[cmikee]

I am thinking now that maybe it was not working correctly before I fixed the coolant leak. The days before I replaced the tstat and radiator it ran in the normal range however, the temp would go down to Cold while driving and up when sitting I thought it was not running hot just moving because of the leak. But when I yanked the bottom radiator hose off (TO TAKE THE RADIATOR OFF) no water came out of the radiator. So I am assuming that it was actually running hot and either my sending unit or my guage is faulty.

The tstat is a Stant.

 

[kimcrwbr1]

if it is a one wire sensor ground the wire to it and if the guage shows hot it is either the sensor or t-stat. I cant quite understand the no water in the lower radiator hose that dont sound right after you get it hot feel for cold spots on the radiator if the level shows full how can there be no water in the lower hose

 

[modelageek]

I am thinking now that maybe it was not working correctly before I fixed the coolant leak. The days before I replaced the tstat and radiator it ran in the normal range however, the temp would go down to Cold while driving and up when sitting I thought it was not running hot just moving because of the leak. But when I yanked the bottom radiator hose off no water came out of the radiator. So I am assuming that it was actually running hot and either my sending unit or my guage is faulty.

The tstat is a Stant.

If your system is not completely full that can cause the gauge to fluctuate because the fluctuations in rpms causes coolant to erratically flush over the sensor....you can check the resistance of the sensor with a multimeter.......I forget what the readings should be.

 

[modelageek]

if it is a one wire sensor ground the wire to it and if the guage shows hot it is either the sensor or t-stat.

Cold you explain to us exactly how to chech the gauge. Do take a jumper wire and connect one end to the sensor terminal and the other end to a ground ie. The neg bat post. Do you do this koeo? Thanks