Okay so my truck is a 92 standard cab dlx pickup with 4x4 and 22re, the other day my coolant gauge jus stopped working stayed cool all the way home from work. I replaced the thermostat with a failsafe thermostat a month or so ago because mine was starting to stick closed.

Well today i tested the sending gauge like my haynes manual said by sticking a wire in the connector that goes to the temp sending unit and grounding it out and the gauge picks up from cold to hot so its working, but i plugged the connector onto the new duralast temp sending unit i installed and drove around and the motor got warm but the gauge never registered?

Also the truck has picked up a high idle issue, it sits at about 1500rpm rather than 900. like its in cold loop. i touched the upper and lower radiator hoses to see if maybe the failsafe had stuck open but both hoses are hot and my heat in the cab works. PLEASE Somebody help me i feel like im always working on it and i love the truck but im getting sick of always working on it.

 

not sure if it helps but my 92 dlx 22re temp guage has been going ape-˟˟˟˟ lately. i dont know if its the guage or the sender yet. but mine usualy just shows what i expect it to, or pegged all the way to the hot side

the sender is the one with the little clip right? the one that goes into the lower manifold toward the rear?

i think your t-stat is stuck open. unless you sender to the ecu suddenly failed too

 

The sender for the gauge is the one about the middle in between the valve cover and the intake with the little clip yea.

My sender to the does look kinda greenish, the thing that makes me think it's not the thermostat is that I still have heat with the fail safe I wouldn't have heat I don't think if it stuck open?

Would the sender for the ecu have anything to do with the gauge though, cause the symptoms I have is that the gauge says cold even when the motors hot. And it stays at high idle like its cold but it's not?

This is bugging me soooo bad, a mechanic buddy told me i may have an air pocket were I replaced the sender

 

could be an air pocket. . . . take the cap off, or just lift the lever if you have the lever locking kind, i just run mine through a few t-stat openings and pinch hoses and stuff and seems to do the job.

when i say a few t-stat openings i mean cause i usually only have to do it cold (usualy after removing my intake manifold for god knows what) the stat will open, alow coolant flow, push bubbles, and quickly close back up from the cold water that it just let in. dont forget to open your heater valve.

otherwise, as i understand, the ecu and gauge have completley different senders and should never effect the other.

start your truck cold and feel your top hose radiator to t-stat. if you feel flow, your in fail-safe mode. your water gets pretty warm before the guage even responds, which would allow heat from your heater.

unless your heater is threatening to melt the vents when its on, i would check into that thermostat

 

Well I stopped at the dealership and picked up a factory thermostat, this morning it seemed I had little to no heat. Then this evening it felt like I had a lil more heat, I'm gonna pull the thermostat tomorrow morning n see if it's stuck

 

Well turns out the fail safe was stuck wide open, problem fixed. The new 190 degree heats up much faster, the heater seems like it could melt the vent.

The new thermostat keeps my gauge about 1/2 way mark sometimes a lil less sometimes more, but thanks for the advice to check thermostat I wouldn't have thought bout it because I still had a lil heat at times.

 

right on man good to hear.

 

Wow that T-stat didn't last long.

 

I looked through my receipts and found were I bought the thermostat and it had been in three months and 1,700 miles. Longer than the month r two I guessed but still only three months on a thermostat means its krap to me.

Anybody Agree?