woodi

So I just finished my first head gasket job. Took almost 3 weeks as things kept popping up I needed to take care of and now the thing still doesn't work right. First attempt to start the truck it wouldn't even turn over...some investigation showed that there were still rags in cylinders 2 and 3. 3 hours of pulling rags through spark plug holes and she was finally ready to go.

It took some cranking (i assume because the fuel system was dry) but she fired up. I got the timing set close to right (only managed to get zapped once)...and let it run for a minute...quite nervous cause of all the smoke pouring off the exhaust mainfold (I later determined that must be the after effects of gallons of pb blaster).

So i'm looking at it and the exhaust still looks awful white and smokey (like i already blew my new head gasket). So i decided I'd let her warm up and see if the smoke cleared up...went a little bit and the temp gauge in the truck never budged. And that's where we are. I checked and the green plug is indeed plugged in. I felt the coolant lines and they felt warm. Any idea what i could have frigged up to make my temp sensor not work. Did i manage to screw up my head gasket so bad that all my coolant is coming out my exhaust before it can make it to the temp sensor? I am so frustrated right now so any worthwhile ideas are greatly appreciated.

Blurr

don't know what year or kind of vehicle you are talking about but i'd say that it is likely that the wiring in the electrical connector somehow became disconnected. those wires harden up over the years and can become brittle and easily dislodge from the contacts inside the connector. get an electrical test light or a multi-meter to see if power is getting to the contacts in the temp sensor connector. good luck!

woodi

Oh sorry...it was late and i was pretty frustrated. It's a 94 pickup with the 22re. I'll try and test the electrical connections...should the plug going into the sensor have twelve volts running through it?

algranger

You probably broke the temp sensor. Or severed the wire. It should be somewhere on the intake manifold or thermostat housing