my engine temp gauge on the dash no longer works on my '96 150. would it be my thermosat that went bad or something else? i've checked and it doesnt seem to be a loose wire either. kinda want to take care of it incase its something more than minor. thanks

 

You described my problem exactly. I'd like to know what it might be too.
Incidentally, I just bought my '95 inline six this morning. I love it already and it runs great and looks great.

 

If the top radiator hose isn't getting hot you have a bad thermostat, stuck open...

 

Check as mentioned above if the thermostat is keeping the truck at proper operating temp. if it is, get a new sending unit for the trmp guage. A quick check is to take the wire to the temp guage and ground it. The guage should shoot up to full. If it doesn't, the guage is faulty or the wire is broken.

 

well i got another problem. i didnt notice it yesterday when i was looking for a leak or anything, but 2day i saw after driving 2 miles and letting it sit, there was a small puddle of coolant under the front end. it seemed to be coming from the bottom of the radiator, but thats all i could see and i was in a hurry to get to work. however, after driving it around again later on 2day, no puddles or anything. this is really throwing me a curve ball. i dont know if it helps, but the temps 2day were around the low to mid 30's. about the radiator hose, it is getting hot too.

 

I have a little bit of a leak from the edge of a side tank on the radiator when it's really cold. As soon as you get a little heat in the coolant it seals right up. Probably fairly common.

 

it only happened that one day with the leak, but it was colder a couple days before that and no problems, but the gauge was working then too. im thinking maybe its a temp sensor or something.

 

the leak was probably from the bottom hose. check to see if it is loose. the check the drain valve it might be loose. how about your overflow tube. it might have a leak.

 

My 94' E 250 with the 300 six, had a poor electrical connection between the slide on connector and the sensor. I cleaned the wire connection and sensor contact, it works fine now. Before doing this, the temp guage would occationally go up and down because of the poor connection.

 

thanks for the help...i wont get a chance to seriously work on it until sunday, but im looking in to all of these results and im gonna see whats the problem