I just bought an 84 pickup and almost everything is good except the truck is having a problem with keeping the temperature down. I just drove it from Phoenix and for the most part it stayed OK as long as I pegged 65-70. If I was climbing a hill I could watch the temp climb too.

It seems like there isn't enough air moving past the radiator. I was drafting behind a Semi and (I was pretty close) the temp began to rise until I moved out from behind him. In slower traffic (in town) the temperature rises too. I didn't have much city driving to do though.

I had to shut down once because of the never ending hills north of Phoenix. It didn't overheat but I let it rest for 10-15 minutes to cool off.

I asked a friend of mine who is in love with Toyotas like the rest of us. He told me I should start by having either radiator recored and if that doesn't work then it's possibly the water pump.

Can you guys give me some suggestions on what to test or start with?

 

I agree a plugged radiator or water pump that isn't working properly. Is it leaking or low on coolant?

Rob

 

It didn't seem to be leaking, I did end up adding some Antifreeze into the over flow because it was below low. I'll go check it now.

Ok I checked it and No.. It has not leaked since I added the antifreeze. That was about 140 miles from home.

 

Anyone got any experience or other suggestions with this problem?

 

I have just the opposite problem. My temp is usually right in the middle of the Center line and the Cold line on the temp guage.

Anyone know why this is? New thermostat

 

You might try replacing the temperature sending unit, mine went bad and when my truck was at normal operating temp the temp gauge would read cold or just a little above, a new sending unit fixed the problem. my radiator and thermostat are new so i knew that wasn`t the problem.

 

What kind of sending unit? Do you mean the fuel sending unit? Because thats the only type of unit i can find on the net.
What would that have to do with the temp guage?

 

Maybe i called it the by the wrong name, its the water temperature sender.
you can find one at autopartswarehouse.com, look under body electrical and you will find it. the part number is P4036-24697 and the cost is 13.95, its the same one i ordered for my truck.

 

my guesses would be radiator, water pump or maybe u have a bad fan clutch. check to make sure when your motor is running your fan spins at the same rpm your motor is turning at.

 

To add perspective, Willie's truck has a radiator that was bought new three years ago from Performance Radiators and the water pump was remanufactured and installed at the same time. The cooling system has never had tap water in it; only ditilled water and coolant. I am curious about this as well since it never heated up on me (it was my truck) when I drove it around and to Vegas and back. The only component in the cooling system I didn't change was the fan clutch so perhaps by elimination that is the perp. I don't know.

The truck sat for a year. Could that foul things up? Were Willie just some guy in a parking lot with this problem, I'd say buy some water wetter and hope it works, but I think the problem should be fixed rather than manipulated....

....and Willie's not just some guy in a parking lot. He's a good man.

 

Thanks. I have no idea how to intall this, but I highly doubt it's difficult at all. Can you start me in the right direction to installing it? Where is it located in the engine? What do I have to remove?

Pictures would be awesome, thanks!

 

its located just in front of the water neck, it has one wire going to it and it just screws in. you will need to drain a little coolant first, then use a wrench or deep socket to remove it.

 

You don't gotta lie to these guys..



Anyways, I was also thinking fan clutch but the fan doesn't freewheel or feel loose when I spin it with my hand. When I start my 4runner, the fan runs on it for a few minutes or until I get past 2k RPM, but the pickup's fan does not run automatically like that, nor did I hear it start running at slower speeds in the city.

Is there any way to test the fan clutch?

 

I'm having the same problem; in fact, that is why I signed up on this forum
I'm replacing mine this weekend. https://www.yotatech.com/forums/show...ht=running+hot

Here's a great link on fan clutches that was passed along to me: http://www.popularmechanics.com/how_...e/1772922.html.

 

Well I had a spare 3 core radiator standing by. I had it cleaned out, fixed, and painted for a fee from a radiator shop.

If that doesn't work, I guess I'm doing the fan clutch next.

On other peoples' 22R engines, does the fan run when one starts their engine like the newer FI engines?

 

OK.. I think.. I fixed it. I drained the old 2 core radiator and installed the newly fixed 3 core. When I drained the 2 core it looked like the antifreeze was clean but as I looked into the bottom of my bucket, it had flakes and bits and pieces all in it. I installed the new radiator and filled the coolant. I let it circulate first with the cap off, until it was spewing antifreeze, then I said ok enough. I shut the truck off and filled the resevoir and capped the radiator. I just drove it, 2 hours later and the needle stayed within an acceptable range. Pointing at the P on temp.

Wahoo. For now I'm keeping my eye on it, but I drove it around and it was staying pretty good.