I'm worried my engine is overheating a little. 1989 4x4 Truck with 22RE. My temperature guage is going above the halfway point when idling, even though its 35 degrees outside. It worries me that something may be wrong, if its getting that high when its 35*, than what about this summer when its 95* outside? I had the radiator, thermostat, and waterpump replaced 4 months ago when I bought the truck. Coolant level is fine. Something I did notice, wich may be normal, is the cooling fan starts out fast when I first start the truck, but then I hear it slow down after 30 seconds or so. Also, the fan blade can be turned by hand when the engine is off, not sure if thats normal either?

 

your fan clutch may be worn out...if the fan spins pretty easily when you turn it with your hand the fan clutch is probably bad

 

How much is a new fan clutch and how hard is it to replace?

 

the fan clutch comment has some sense. if its COLD outside, and the engine is stone cold, the fan will spin easily, since it is made of heat sensitive metal that expands and contracts with temperature. when its hot, it will have more resistance, when its cold it will have less... now if it barely has any resistance when the engine is hot, then your clutch is bad.

 

Your temperature guage SHOULD register at approximately the same spot whether it is winter or summer under normal driving conditions.

 

Not hard to replace really...a 2 banana job maybe.

The fan clutch is around $90 or so from www.rockauto.com

It's significantly more from the dealership.

The fan at startup sound that you're describing is normal. That's actually the way it should act if your fan clutch is OK, and not bad or in need of replacement.

Have you "burped" the cooling system? Look up "radiator burp" in the search function, and you may find there are plenty of people that have had the same complaints. Try that first. Also, take out your t-stat and test in a pot of water on the stove to make sure it opens at 190. If not, then your t-stat needs to be replaced. Go with a dual stage t-stat instead of the single stage. Search for that too..plenty of info on it...or go to www.4crawler.com and you'll find all the info you need on the temp overshoot issue.

Does it seem to run fine otherwise? No sputtering, loss of power, horrible gas mileage, etc..? The fan clutch should be one of the last things you go after if you haven't checked into all of the above first.

 

No sputtering. I have only had it for 5 months and the power has been the same. I dont have anything to compare it to. My gas guage does not work properly, so I'm not sure on the gas mileage. When it gets to E, I still have a half tank left. I fill it up anyways to be safe, takes about 7 gallons to get it from E to F.

 

You don't use a fuel gage to check economy; all you need is a working, accurate odometer. Fill the truck up, burn up half a tank or more driving around, and fill it up again, preferably at the same gas station and pump. Note how many gallons it took and how many miles you went. Divide the miles by gallons and you get miles/gallon. Sounds like your sending unit in the tank is going bad, though.

Regarding the running temperature, you can't go by what the idiot gage in the dash says. Many factory hot-cold gages have a nonlinear sweep anyway.To really know how hot the coolant is getting, you need a thermometer or a good temp gage like an Autometer, VDO, Stewart-Warner, Equus, or even Sun. Only then will you know if it's actually getting too hot.