The temperature gauge(on my dash) for my 87 Toyota does not work.

Can someone recommend how to start troubleshooting this?

 

Well I'd probably go pop the hood and see if the temp sensor is even hooked up. I believe there are 2 temperature senders on the 22re, one goes to the ECU and I believe the other goes to the temperature gauge. You'll probably have to do a little bit of searching either here on Yotatech to verify which one is which and where exactly they are. In my limited memory, one is sticking in the front of the intake manifold, the other is sticking in the top of the manifold. Once you verify that they are there and plugged in, then you might want to pull it and ohm it out with a meter. For good measure, you can probably ohm it out hot and cold by sticking it in some hot water to make sure it changes with temperature. And then if you find that the sensor is good, then maybe move on the the actual gauge itself. Find the Factory Service Manual online if you can, that would really give you the right steps to follow.