Have an '84 pickup that the previous owner swapped an '85 22re into. Aside from a million other problems I am having thermostat problems. When the engine is turned on the temp gauge in the dash comes up to normal temp. But it does it only a few seconds to a minute after the truck is started. Id assume that temp gauge is not working. The previous owner also seemed to believe it did not work. I just recently over heated and would like to sort out my thermostat problems however necessary. I'm not sure where to start though. I have an AC compressor on the engine that is not hooked up. I believe that there is a thermostat used for the AC in some way. Will I need to hook up the AC to have my thermostats functioning correctly? Should I just replace the thermostat? The temp sending unit? Fuses?any help is greatly appreciated.

 

what did the gauge say when the truck overheated? did it register really hot? if the gauge isn't working, how did you know that the engine overheated?

 

I didn't notice if the gauge came up. I had two radiator hoses blow. They didn't actually burst the hose but you can see swelling in the hose around where the hose clamps were connected, and fluid sprayed from the metal/rubber connection point. I didn't notice when it happened. My truck has quite a few problems that I am trying to sort through and it makes a lot of noise from different points so it's hard to distinguish what is happening with the engine right now. I basically check my fluids constantly and noticed that I was losing oil and coolant around a time when my engine started running noticeably rougher. Looked for leaks and found my two hoses blown, and my front main seal leaking. Assumed I must have overheated. My truck is also making a light ticking now from around the top/front of the valve cover.

 

the hoses could have just been rotten and leaky, it may not have actually overheated.

i would suggest taking it down to the car wash engine bay, blow the entire engine and compartment clean, then do a compression check, and put in new plugs... it'll probably need a valve adjustment as well.

if there is a blown head gasket or something, the compression check could help to identify it.

 

Thanks for the advice. I'll give it a shot