Ksane

I've got an 87' 4Runner, 4 cyl, 5 spd, 22re, 250K miles, always been a great truck. I installed aftermarket (AutoMeter brand) mechanical water temp/oil pressure gauges a week ago. The temp gauge on my cluster has always read barely above cold up to 1/4 when the AC is running and I'm driving in slow traffic. The old water temp sensor was badly corroded and pitted so I'm not sure it was accurate. We installed the new mechanical gauges with the new sensor, etc. New 180 deg thermostat, had the radiator professionally cleaned out, etc (I try to do that every 18 mo or so now) & installed a 16" elec fan instead of the stock fan. The elec fan is hooked up to run anytime the key is on (which is how I wanted it).
Anyway, the new water temp gauge gets up to 190 after a few minutes of driving and will stay about there except when I turn on the AC. Then it gets up to about 220 degrees. I realize the sensor is at the very hottest part right before the water goes into the radiator to be cooled, but does that seem too hot to any of you? It does to me and I'm concerned about it.
I searched the forums and the theads I found all dealt with the "hot or cold" cluster gauge. For those of you with mechanical gauges-what does your actual water temp read? And with the AC on?
If it matters it's been in the 80's & 90's here in Oklahoma recently and very humid.
I'm sorry this is long, I tried to include everything hoping someone could help.
Thanks,
Mitzi

Sean K.

I run around 190 degrees with my Autometer gauges and a 22re in my buggy. It will spike to 220 degrees when idling or working hard on the trail and then drop back to 190ish once the thermostat opens. Sorry, I converted my A/C to OBA so I don't know what it normally runs with that on.

HTH,
Sean

Ksane

That helps me alot, it's pretty much the same as mine does.
I also read a post from 4Crawler. All this time I thought my cluster gauge wasn't working-that only the mechanical gauge was because it was hooked up at the sensor on top of the thermostat. But the sensor that controls the gauge cluster on your/my dash is in the intake manifold. Long story short-because of his posts and email I see now that both my cluster gauge and my mechanical gauge are working. They show the temps at different ends of the engine. Which makes me feel a whole lot better. Knowing *you have the same brand gauges as me that are showing the same temps eases my mind considerably also <g>.
Thank you, Sean! (And thank you, 4Crawler).

neilan

my runner with 22 re and all new coolign system runs between 170 and 16 all the time. It will spike up to 190 and then the thermostat opens and it frops down and never goes higher than thta.

notanymore

i dont pay enough attention to when it goes but mine runs between 190 and 210, occasionally it will spike up to 230 for a few seconds but thats about it

Ksane

Mine may not be all that much different than the average then.
You don't pay enough attention to gauges? My husband said he's not installing any more for me because I obsess over the readings too much. But when I saw it hit 220 all I could visualize was my head warping and cracking right before my eyes :-O
Glad these boards are here!
Mitzi

TNRabbit

If you look at the red area on most factory temp gauges, it is WAY up into the 200's. spikes like that are normal. You will get a lot different readings like you said from the two different areas. As long as your water temp is not staying above 210 you will be fine. Just be SURE you run at least 50/50 coolant/water mixture. It is also a good idea to use DISTILLED water to cut out impurities that show up as corrosion in your cooling system. I have found a really good coolant that is gold in color made specifically for Toyota engines; I can't remember the name but I bought it at NAPA.

rdlsz24

I have my aftermarket temp gauge installed in place of the factory temp gauge, which is on the intake manifold. It reads 160 on the highway. I used to have it installed on the front of the block where the ecu temp sensor is (I was dumb and didn't know the ecu needed that... I switched it back when my truck started running funky) and it was always at 190 on the highway.

Rob

ewong

Due to difficulty of placement of the sensor - my sensor is AFTER the thermostadt int he outlet pipe.

I use a TURBO outlet which has a boss on it for an OEM sensor - but it now has a autometer mechnical temp guage there.

First - what I never realized is that the the OEM thermostadt "pumps" (aka cycles open and closed) - esp in the winter. It can take 30+min of driving before some sort of steady state is reached.

Second - steady state is often 190-200 deg.
Spikes to 220 are not that common for me, but could be due to "hot spots" int he head depending on where the guage is installed etc.
For example - if I drive the truck HARD - I can seen a steady state of 210 with spikes higher.

Of greater concern is spikes in the OIL temp.

Climbing Mt Washington I saw 230...

Sean K.

Ya, I should mention the spike at 220 is very short lived. It only gets there for a few seconds before the thermostat opens and drops it back down to 180-190. Keep in mind too that I'm in AZ and this is running in 100+ degrees at a crawl in boulders as high as the hood and higher. Never have an overheating problem though....and that's with most of my radiator blocked by my winch, chassis frame and a steering cooler.

HTH,
Sean

notanymore

if it went much above 230 or stayed there i might get worried but short spikes are no biggie

Ksane

My coolant is mixed closer to 70 coolant/30 water. Distilled is a good idea and I'll do that. I'm going to stop at NAPA today and see if they've got the coolant you're talking about for Toyotas. I like NAPA, they have alot of the different oddball stuff that AutoZone and O'Reilly's don't have.
Thanks to all for the responses.
Mitzi

TNRabbit

70/30 is the max recommended & will give the the maximum protection from boilover.