Running Cold in the North East

[hamiamham]

I dont know if this is something to be worried about but i drove my '97 D-90 soft top for about 2 hours this weekend. Took 45mins or so for the temp gauge to crawl its way up to the middle of the range. When I turned on the heat it moved back to the low end of the range and pretty much stayed there. It was about 32-40 degrees outside.

[revtor]

Sounds like your thermostat is stuck open. cheap, easy fix.. (if its the case)

[Hans]

Could also be low coolant level, not reaching the sender for the temp gauge.

Also a symptom of poor water flow, but that is a very unlikely occurance. Last time I saw that happen was with a rebuilt water pump that had all the vanes broken off.

-Hans

[sherpamike]

I second the thermostat stuck open. It sounds classic.

I just went through this on my camry. The car took forever to heat up (even in the summer), and often times once I got up to highway speeds the gauge would dip back down to cool- more ail flow through radiator. Besides it's a cheap and easy fix, and once your truck heats up to normal operating temps you'll get better gas mileage too.

[hamiamham]

perhaps the owner before me pulled the thermostate altogether. ill have it checked out. thanks guys.