Engine Temp Gauge
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Engine Temp Gauge
I have been noticing basically since I have had my truck, about a year, that the coolant gauge has never shown in the middle, its always the 1/4 of the way, or 3/8 the way, but never comes close to half way. I was always curious to why it wasnt reading accuarately, and I thought maybe there was an actual engine problem, but as of today, as I shut the vehicle off, the coolant/engine temperature gauge stayed where it was when started, so I am figuring maybe its getting an inaccurate reading or possibly jammed from going any further than 3/8 the way? It does eventually crawl all the way down, because when I start it in the morning, its at the Cold postion, any ideas boys?
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From: Virginia
Mine runs around the "o" in the word "normal". I have a 195 degree thermostat in my truck, and I can tell from watching the gauge on a cold morning, that the "o" on my guage is around 200 degrees. I watch the gauge and after starting it, it rises up near the "o" and then it will suddenly fall. Depending on how cold it is, it will do this once or up to 2 or 3 times.
What's happening is the engine is warming up and then the thermostat opens. All that cold water rushes into the engine, and the thermostat closes again. It keeps doing this till everything levels out.
I think your gauge is reading correctly. If you have a 180 degree thermostat and a large radiator, it will probably read to the left even more.
What's happening is the engine is warming up and then the thermostat opens. All that cold water rushes into the engine, and the thermostat closes again. It keeps doing this till everything levels out.
I think your gauge is reading correctly. If you have a 180 degree thermostat and a large radiator, it will probably read to the left even more.
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Ford Gauges and monitoring system has always been questioned for their reliability.
The gauges in 70's trucks used to PIN to the high side occasionally for no rhyme or reason.
It's just something we dealt with by cleaning the cluster real good.
The gauges in 70's trucks used to PIN to the high side occasionally for no rhyme or reason.
It's just something we dealt with by cleaning the cluster real good.
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OKay, thats a relief, cuz it does functio, just doesnt make a man feel god inside. Lets put it this way, every once in a while, it will reach the "N" in the word Normal. As of tomorrow, I am having a Superduty Transmission Coller installed to help the tranny out so the radiator doesnt need to work as hard. MAybe that might make it even go to the left even more.
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From: Virginia
If it reads much more to the left, you may not have much heat for the heater core on a cold day. Running the engine hot keeps down wear, cooks off bad stuff in the oil, and gives better fuel mileage.
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From: Virginia
If you wanted to verify your factory gauge is correct, you could go buy a aftermarket gauge and stick it in temporarily.
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Have the T-stat value verified to see what temp T-stat is actually installed.
Always go with spec.
Some think they need one 20*F lower to make it cool but what they are doing is wearing their engine faster due to lower operating temps.
Always go with spec.
Some think they need one 20*F lower to make it cool but what they are doing is wearing their engine faster due to lower operating temps.
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good point. The transmission cooler I got today is no bigger than the stock one, but its a "heavy duty" one. Are they suppose to be as big the radioator? Or are they suppose to stay that small?
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