A couple of observations from today's work. First off, I suck at adjusting valves I tried it once, and the valves got louder...then, went back about 2 hours later and did it again...and they are a little quieter now, but not as quiet as they should be. So, tomorrow I'll try again...3rd time's a charm right? This was my first time adjusting valves, so I figured I may need 2 or 3 tries to get it right. I guess I'm just not getting this "slight drag on the feeler gauge" concept. I tightened them down until there was drag on the feeler gauge..but how much is "slight"? The way I did it was I tightened the screw all the way down until I couldn't move the feeler gauge at all...once I hit that point, I loosened it up just enough to be able to pull out the feeler gauge with drag on it. Is this too tight perhaps?

Just for fun and to see what happened with coolant temps, I took out the t-stat today and ran the truck without it...it still ran hot (about 3/4 up the gauge) with ambient temps about 55 degrees. I tested the t-stat again in a pot of water, and it opens at 190...the dual stage smaller valve opens as well (before 190).

One thing I did notice is that my radiator flows coolant past the filler neck perfectly without the t-stat in...but it shows almost zero flow past the filler neck when I have the t-stat reinstalled and the engine warmed up with the cap off. So what does that mean? I've verified my t-stat opens when it hits the correct temp, so I know it's not staying closed when it's installed in the truck. I cleaned up the spot where there was dried up coolant by the t-stat housing gasket at the block, and after I was done running the truck around for about 20 minutes, I checked that spot again and it was dry...no coolant leaking there. So it was just dried up coolant from previous install/uninstalls of t-stats.

Once again I'm stumped. With the t-stat reinstalled on the next drive, it's still registering 3/4 towards the hot mark on the gauge at all times. So, is the radiator (even though it's only got about 5000 miles on it) the suspect here after all? A blockage somewhere? The lower hose is not collapsing at about 3000 RPMS...I had my wife rev the engine and the hose was not pinched or collapsing. If it is a blockage in the radiator, why is there 100% flow with the t-stat out, and barely any when it's installed?

This is really starting to drive me nuts now, and I'm about at the point where I'm ready to just throw in the towel and drop it off at the dealership to get raped with labor rates and high parts prices.

Any suggestions or ideas anyone?

 

There should be just enough drag on the feeler guage without it sticking. You'll get the hang of it. If you still have noisy valves afterwards, you can adjust them a tad tighter to .007 and .011 with no harm. In fact, search valve adjustment using engnbldr as the username. I believe he says you can go even tighter than that on the exhaust. I don't remember the clearances exactly, though.

If you're still running hot with the t-stat out and the coolant is flowing, I'm not sure what to tell you. Faulty dash guage, perhaps. Have you used a thermometer to read the coolant temps? You should do that to have a comparison. And, have you looked at the cat, yet? Also, look at your plugs to see if they're white indicating running too lean.

You won't notice the coolant flow as much with the t-stat in, btw. It obstructs the coolant to a degree. You have a smaller opening for the coolant to pass through, at that point.

 

where di you get your code reader at i have the 86 22re-t i need one for mine no one can check mine they dont have a reader only the dealer

 

You don't need a code reader, Mike. Check this out:
http://www.off-road.com/toyota/tech/codes/index.html

 

I got if from Office Depot....about $2.99 for 300 of them

Thanks thook....I'll keep plugging away at it. I'm swapping in an SR5 cluster next week...so maybe that will give me a fresh start with a properly working gauge...if that is indeed the problem.

I still have to get to an exhaust place to have the exhaust system looked at...I needed a new tailpipe welded in anyways, so I'll have them check out the catalytic converter and check for leaks.

 

Well, swap if you must. But, check it with a candy thermometer. They're cheap at Wal-Mart....or equivalent.

And, leaks wouldn't cause a problem like this. In fact, if the cat's clogged, they might help.... (j/k)

Anyway, good luck.

 

BTW, do you have any idea what the concentration of your water/coolant mix is? 50/50....60/40...70/30...etc?

 

haha...thanks. The mix on the coolant is 50/50. For now I'm using the Peak brand 50/50 green stuff you buy at Wal-Mart. I was planning to flush it all out in the next week or so again, and run Toyota coolant and distilled water.

By the way....another development, and I'm kicking myself for waiting this long to check...but buying the truck back in January, I never bothered because I thought my buddy would have checked it all; I ran the engine up to operating temp, shut it off, then checked the oil level on the dipstick....BONE DRY. I added 2 quarts, checked it again, and it was only up to half. So I'm heading out to buy more oil.

What would cause that situation? I have no oil leaks either, and never saw any in the past two months of owning this truck. And believe me, I would have noticed as I'm often checking for leaks in parking spots with older trucks such as this one.

 

One more thing I noticed today while the radiator cap was off and I was checking coolant again...my coolant has some flakes of crap in it, and some dirty particles floating around. Could this be signs, after all, of a radiator that needs to be replaced? I've flushed and filled this system a few times now, and most recently less than a week ago with new coolant and a complete flush of the system (even back flushing the heater core)....The radiator is less than a year old, but I know that doesn't mean much as a newer radiator can still get clogged up with gunk. It's also a 2 core...so perhaps switching to a new 3 core radiator may be in order?

I'm just trying to cover all the bases here.

 

Alright, so since I had to replace some burnt out gauge bulbs in my cluster yesterday, I decided to test the ohm resistance at the coolant temp gauge per the FSM instructions. It should read 25ohms, and it's not. It's reading maybe 3 to 4, and bouncing all over the place after that...up to 18, down to 0, up to 3 or 4, down to 0, etc... So, I've figured it's probably a bad gauge after all. All this work, and I could have checked that first off The wire from the sender to the gauge checks out fine with a test light, so no breaks in the wire there.....so it's the actual gauge that's the problem.

 

Success! It was a bad radiator, and a leaking upper radiator hose. Got a new 3 row radiator today for $120 (connection from a mechanic friend). That same mechanic friend came over and did a compression test today as well, so the head gasket is fine. The water pump also checked out fine by testing the bearing/pulley. So, we drained out the rad and noticed that a lot of the passages were still full of coolant, and didn't drain out....that was a sure sign that it was clogged up. We also ran a laser thermometer on the radiator, and it was normal on the sides (around 190 or so), but below 100 in the middle (around 80-90 degrees). I could put my hand on the front side of the radiator after it was run hot, and didn't get burned. That's also where we noticed a lot of the blocked passages when we took the cap off and drained the coolant. I have to wait a couple more hours to go pick up the new radiator...but I have the old one off already, and already have the new upper hose...so when I go pick up the new radiator, all I have to do is drop it in, reconnect some stuff...fill it with new coolant, burp the system...and I'm good to go.

Thanks thook for your input and help, and anyone else that helped out in the 2 or 3 threads I had going about temp issues.....I feel so much better now that I was able to track it down. At the very least, replacing the sender, sensor, t-stat, etc....just gives me that much more piece of mind in the end. Now to adjust those damn valves and TPS correctly, and I'm all set.

Now on to more pressing things as well like replacing both upper ball joints (index finger sized tear in each ball joint boot...not good ), the cv axle, and a damn broken wheel stud. I hate state inspections!