Well my 1994 ext cab has a few quirks that I'm slowly finding out. I noticed today that the temp guage doesn't move off of cold. It does come up some but never to the middle or even a quarter of the way over. Does anyone else have this problem. The heater is getting warm but I guess I need to get a new temp guage and mount it under the dash. What do you guys think the normal range should be on this truck. ITs a 22r with a 5 speed. I talked to the old owner the other day and he said that this truck has been this way since it had 45K on it. It now has 150K. I used to have a mazda with a 4banger in it and during the winter it was the same thing. Mabye I need to put some cardboard up and see if this helps.

 

try a new temp sensor before the gauge. mine sticks on cold sometimes and i just tap the cluster once and it works. yours sounds like the sensor though.

 

Thank you for the tip. I'm going to look into that.

 

Even when working the stock temp gauges are little more than a fancy idiot light. They are designed to be non-linear so they stay in the middle of the normal range through a wide range of temps. Mine stays pegged in the middle from 165 F to 240 F.

I'd recommend getting a real temp gauge so you catch overheating conditions quicker when they happen. All it takes is one boil-over to blow the head gasket.

These Isspro gauges work good and match the factory gauges very well, especially if you buy the optional green bulb covers:
http://www.egauges.com/vdo_grou.asp?Series=EVA_R

I just use the trans temp gauges for water, oil and tranny temps, for some reason the trans temp gauges are only $59:
http://www.egauges.com/vdo_mult3.asp...=EVA_R&Units=E

 

My temp guage jumps between 165 and 195. I'm not running a fan stroud right now either. My truck has been bored 20 over so it will run a little warmer. I have sunpro mini guages in mine. About 30 bucks for oil pressure, temp, and volts guage. Do not take up alot of room.

 

Do they wire into the stock locations on the engine? I've hooked tachs up before but never the oil or water temp.

 

Not sure on the 22re. My water temp sender is in the upper radiator hose:




I drilled and tapped a piece of pipe that the hose fit over and sealed it up with a little RTV.

Merry Christmas

 

yeah i deff reccomend an aftermarket water temp gauge, my truck usually runs between 190-210

 

Thanks for the info. I'm going to look into it day after christmas!

 

My temp guage went right into the original temp sending unit. The oil pressure should go right into the sending unit also. But I screwed a braided hose into my oil sending unit for the looks. Just my preference. As far as the lights for the guages, I tied them all together behind the guages and ran the Hot wire into my headlight fuse under the hood, so they come on when my headlights do. Easy Job for the benefit.

 

I don't remember the exact details but I was able to wire my gauge lights to the dimmer switch so they dim with the rest of the dash lights. IIRC the key is that Toyota uses switched grounding.

Merry Christmas

 

Before assuming and pointing a finger at the temp gauge, replace the thermostat and see if that fixes your problem. I've never had a problem with my temp gauge acting up in my 84 in 24 years.

 

How could this be the problem?

 

If a t-stat sticks open it can over-cool the coolant, or (more likely) the previous owner took out the t-stat and you don't even have one. The 22r and 22re engines have a strange design that dumps coolant from the heater core into the t-stat. With the heater running it can cause the t-stat to close and over-heat the engine before it opens again, some have over come this design flaw by removing the t-stat. Here's some more info on that:
http://www.4crawler.com/4x4/CheapTri...tml#Thermostat

 

Yeah, I started a thread a few days ago about my temp spiking up real high on warmup and then settling down as well as running generally hotter with the heater on. That was the same link given to me, too.