Guest jkopp Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 I think my thermostat is staying open all the time... the engine never warms to regular operating temperature, and the darn fan turns faster as I accelerate (gets a BIT annoying). Does this sound about right or is there something else I should investigate before replacing the thermo or do I even need to? I know its not bad for the engine, but I just lost a belt while on a long distance road trip. I know its partly my fault for not replacing the belt in a timely manner, but I think the overkill from the fan spinning all the darn time might have played some part in that. Any Suggestions most appreciated! Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 6, 2004 Share Posted December 6, 2004 Sounds more like the fan clutch is stuck to me. That'd make it run cooler, but I doubt it'd make the thermostat fail. It also wouldn't run very much cooler. Where does your needle sit at now, compared to how it used to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jkopp Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 It usually sits about 1/3 of the way up maybe a little more now its probably half that. Its running cooler than normal. I just made a 500mi trip and it stayed about 1/6 of the way up (not where it should be) for the whole drive with the fan running with the engine. Is the fan clutch integrated into the water pump or separate, because I just replaced the water pump about a year ago? :confused: :confused: Thanks for the help - Im a struggling engineering student trying to learn something and save a little money! Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Sounds very much like a thermostat problem. I had a stuck thermomstat last winter, right in the middle of a work transfer and relocating the family. I had no time to change it as I was too busy and in between homes, I had to shop to work in. It was very cold, like -30. It was 6 hour commute on weekends. The vehicle I was driving at that time had an electric fan. I disconnected it and stuffed a large piece of cardboard in front of the radiator. That at least got me some heat. Not much but at least it was above freezing inside during the 6 hour trip. Upon removing the thermostat later, I did find it stuck open. My advise, change it. At least that's a good starting point. It's a cheap fix if you do it yourself. Also buy some extra antifreeze to top up when you put it all back together. While you're there inspect the upper rad hose. Might want to change that at the same time, seeing as you will have it partially removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 The fan clutch is separate from the water pump, though it IS bolted to the water pump pulley. If your thermostat is sticking open, you'd definitely get the lower guage reading you're getting. If your temp guage sensor was going out, it might also do that to you, though. Try this: with the engine cold, take off the radiator cap. Let the coolant settle and then start the engine. If it looks like it's constantly circulating, the thermostat's probably stuck open. If it looks pretty still until the engine warms up, then moves, the thermostat is probably working OK and your temp sensor might be at fault instead. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I'm with 88 on the fan clutch. as to the thermo: that's entirely possible but when have you flushed your cooling system last??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
94extreme Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 If your temp guage sensor was going out, it might also do that to you, though. yeh but, wouldn't you still get heat out of the vents? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Good idea 88 about the circulating fluid with the rad cap off. One more question, if the gauge reads low, do you have much heat in the cab? Are you in a cold climate where you'd really notice a heat loss in the cab? Another thing you can do is let the vehicle fully warm up with the rad cap off. The system won't pressurize. Once it's fully warmed up, you can see that the temp gauge is not going any higher, you could put a thermometer in fluid from the rad cap opening. This you would give you an idea whether or not your gauge is out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jkopp Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 I will try taking the cap and see what happens in the morning. The thing is that I still get heat in the cab. I’m in TN so it’s not too cold (cold enough to need to use the heater). The temp gauge never reads what it should indicating that either that the gauge is out or the engine is never reaching normal operating temperature . . . I’m still not fully clear though on how the fan running in proportion to engine acceleration is playing a part in the lower gauge reading. Maybe someone could tie up some loose ends and fill me in on what I’m missing??? I am not going to pretend that I know how this entire system completely works . I will try what you all suggested and report back. Thanks again ... even if this doesn't end up saving me any green its still a great learning experience...Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88pathoffroad Posted December 7, 2004 Share Posted December 7, 2004 Just worry about whether or not the thermostat is stuck or not right now. The fan will still work OK and isn't a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jkopp Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 I was not able to test the thermostat today...I have been stuck inside studying for 2 final exams that I have tomorrow morning -study- . I will check on the thermo tomorrow afternoon and post the results -alcohol- . Thanks again for all the help! Justin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithb7 Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Any luck finding the problem yet? -study- How about an update when you get a minute? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jkopp Posted December 11, 2004 Share Posted December 11, 2004 Yeah . . . sorry for the wait everyone - all my exams sucked a bunch! First the rad fluid did not seem to settle at all before I started it ....so it was hard to tell if the fluid was circulating when first started. Anyway, so when I took the rad cap off and then started the truck the fluid level appeared not to be moving at first, although like I said before it was still up in the top of the cap, maybe an inch below the very top and hard to see if the fluid was moving. I let the truck run until the temp gauge was about as high as it had been getting when Im driving. By this time the fluid level had risen higher and there was some steam coming off the top. I assume that all of this indicates that the thermo is working properly. I just drove to st. louis last night to visit family. It is much colder and the gauge did not rise quite as high as its previous deliquent position - there was however, still plenty of heat in the truck. So this still does not tell me much of anything, but Im sure you fellas can draw some conclusions about my situation. Thanks again for your time and help. still -alcohol- !!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcparamedic Posted November 29, 2008 Share Posted November 29, 2008 Yeah . . . sorry for the wait everyone - all my exams sucked a bunch! First the rad fluid did not seem to settle at all before I started it ....so it was hard to tell if the fluid was circulating when first started. Anyway, so when I took the rad cap off and then started the truck the fluid level appeared not to be moving at first, although like I said before it was still up in the top of the cap, maybe an inch below the very top and hard to see if the fluid was moving. I let the truck run until the temp gauge was about as high as it had been getting when Im driving. By this time the fluid level had risen higher and there was some steam coming off the top. I assume that all of this indicates that the thermo is working properly. I just drove to st. louis last night to visit family. It is much colder and the gauge did not rise quite as high as its previous deliquent position - there was however, still plenty of heat in the truck. So this still does not tell me much of anything, but Im sure you fellas can draw some conclusions about my situation. Thanks again for your time and help. still -alcohol- !!!!! Do you have any pics of replacing the t-stat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zack1978 Posted November 30, 2008 Share Posted November 30, 2008 I agree with everyone else above, sounds like the fan clutch is bad. The fan clutch went bad in my 95 last year after almost 180,000 miles. When you are on the gas, does the engine sound different, like it is sucking in large amounts of air? You can tell very simply if the fan clutch is stuck based upon the sound that the engine makes. Zack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now