I recently stuck a used motor into my 85 pickup. 22RE, pulled from my recently wrecked 2WD truck. All is well, except this problem: I'll start the truck in the morning, and drive it to work. The water temp needle climbs to its normal position, and stays there for a few minutes, but then it climbs higher, to just below the dreaded red zone. I freak out and pull over to check the motor temp by "hand". It does not seem hot. One day, the needle kissed the red, and I pull over, and I see a bit of steam, confirming that its not funky electrical stuff. Anyway- I keep driving , and the needle, after a minute or so, drops rapidly back to the normal position, and then will stay there all day. I replaced the thermostat twice- the second time with a genuine Toyota part. Plenty of coolant in the motor. New, genuine Toyota belt, tensioned correctly. New radiator cap. Ignition timing set to factory spec. I'm pretty much totally pissed off, and I'm riding my damn bicycle to work on Monday, to keep from ruining my motor. Any ideas? Thank you- Micah.

 

What temperature of thermo did you put in?
Did you install it the correct way? i.e., the "spring" facing down.
Maybe try a two hole thermo.

 

Check the thread "22re coolant loss". It's a little further down. This should answer your question. All you have to do is cut the jiggle valve off the thermostat so you only have a 1/16" hole.

 

chech the fan clutch or if its electric the temp switch setting.

 

Standard thermostat, fan clutch is fine. Where's the "22re coolant loss"? I Don't see it- But I probably will as soon as I post this. Thanks for you replies.

 

Ha ha! That is the problem I am experiencing! (I found the "22re coolant loss...") That is the info I needed. Sounds like I'll be driving to work after all... I thought I was losing it, too. It seems like a little quirk like that would be more well known. Thank you for all your help. -Micah.

 

Glad to hear you've got it solved! I agree that this info should be better known. I had a heck of a time figuring out my truck until I googled "22re thermostat problems" and there was my answer.