Coolant temp Guage

[sub-arctic]

Ive got a 93 L300 and I noticed the temp gauge for the coolant isnt rising very far off of the lower limit, that was back in december in vancouver, so outside air temp of +14 ish. where is the temperature pickup for the gauge? I am picking my van up to drive it back to Yellowknife, and I like to make sure there is at least a little bit of temperature in the engine, before heading out when I encounter below freezing temperatures.

Would it be easier to install an aftermarket water temp gauge than to fix the stock one?

Thanks in advance!

[yojimbo]

Sounds normal, no need to fix what isnt broken.

It's when the gauge rises much above that you have to worry.

[davidwwc]

Have you check the thermostat ? If it is in fault ,ie to say ,it is opening all the time,(at this case)the gauge will show low in reading. It won't hurt the driving but warming up will take longer. Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
DC

[konadog]

Same happened to my 300 - and as davidwwc suggests, it was the thermostat that needed replacing.

[sub-arctic]

Hmm as far as I know its got a new thermostat in it, so maybe I am used to the "normal operating temp" range being higher than the lower 1/8th of the guage. I guess it will be a bit tougher to gauge when my Van is ready to go in -30!

[FalcoColumbarius]

I agree with David and Kona. Is it possible that the new thermostat wasn't put in correctly and the water keeps flowing? The thermostat needs to be set flat in it's cradle or it won't be able to regulate the water and the temperature will stay too cool and the engine won't do it's job properly.

Falco.

[jessef]

The thermostat needs to be set flat in it's cradle or it won't be able to

..seal properly as the two mated surfaces (thermstat block/rad housing) won't be flush with one another causing coolant to spew out even if the bolts were torqued to spec. Unlikely otherwise the OP would have coolant everywhere.

David and Kona are probably right. You can test it yourself as well. Pull the thermostat and toss it in boiling water. Check if it opens at the rated temp stamped on the outer ring. If it doesn't pop open or opens too soon, you've got a faulty thermostat.

If you're making that long of a trek, it would be prudent to have your radiator flushed and checked for buildup and the rad cap pressure tested.

[thedjjack]

is it just off the lower line or just in the normal range?

Mine has always run just at the bottom of the normal range (this is normal)...but the factory gauge really tells you no much...it is the exact measurement of "range".

If it has a new thermostat I would assume the coolant system has been flushed and checked.

[FalcoColumbarius]

Hmm as far as I know its got a new thermostat in it,.....

I agree with David and Kona. Is it possible that the new thermostat wasn't put in correctly and the water keeps flowing? The thermostat needs to be set flat in it's cradle or it won't be able to regulate the water and the temperature will stay too cool and the engine won't do it's job properly.

Falco.

The reason I asked this is because I did exactly that, I had to drain all my new coolant out again to reseat the thermostat ~ and no, there wasn't coolant all over the place ~ but as it wasn't sat correctly and there was water getting through, so the gate was effectively open and the engine didn't get up to temperature. Incidentally when I replaced my thermostat I installed it into the water pump and connected the lower rad hose to it. There's a picture of it on page 14-8 of engine cooling.

Falco.

[sub-arctic]

Hmm I will look into it before I leave on the trip, thanks for all the advice!

The needle sits just above the lower marking on the guage, so it barely moves at all,

Thanks!