Outer Limits 4x4 Board

Hi all. Had a very concerning experience driving back from Brisvegas to the Sunny Coast last night in my TD 80 Series. Cruising along and doing my usual scan of the instruments when I noticed the engine temp guage sitting right on the red . Pulled over, check for anything obvious .. nothing. Checked the hoses, reserviour and eventually (slowly) cracked the rad cap .. all okay. Stuck the finger in (because I have a thermometer built into the end of my little finger) and checked the temp .. hot but not boiling??

So cruised along a bit at 80kph until I found a safe place to pull off the highway as I've seen enough rear enders on the highway to not want to be sitting 500mm from trucks whizzing past at 110.

Check everything again, nothing unusual, still has all its water and still not boiling. Being very cautious as I am, I cruise home at 80kph again (luckily I was not rammed by that guy in a undercoat grey Zook) with no problems but the guage still in the red.

Now just before Christmas I replaced the waterpump, thermostat, all hoses (and I mean all hoses) and belts with genuine Toyota parts and since driven to Melb and back again towing the 17 foot van no worries.

When I got home last night I got the thermometer out and stuck it in the radiator .. 80 degrees, used the electronic laser thermometer on the block and head ... just under 80 degrees so it all seems okay.

Come out this morning, turn the ignition on and the temp gauge goes straight into the red again so obviously a problem with either the gauge or the sender. And seeing as though I've spent so much time writing this long winded story, I haven't got any time to diagnose the problem so I want to know if anyone else has had this happen? Which is it, the guage or the sender? Is it a common problem?

As an interesting aside, I purchased a temp alert setup off ebay a few weeks ago and haven't had a chance to fit it yet but it's going on asap.

Watdoyareckon????

Gday.
Try taking the wire off temp sender and see if guage still goes up with key on.If it doesnt go up it should be the temp sender.If it still goes up with wire off it may be wire to sender unit is earthing out or guage is shagged.
Hope that helps

AUSCRUZER wrote:Gday.
Try taking the wire off temp sender and see if guage still goes up with key on.If it doesnt go up it should be the temp sender.If it still goes up with wire off it may be wire to sender unit is earthing out or guage is shagged.
Hope that helps

Hey Auscruzer, thanks for the reply you were spot on although by the time I sat down tonight to read it I had already fixed the problem. Came home from work around 4.45pm and tried exactly what you said, the moment I disconnected the temp sender the gauge didn't register anything so I called my mate at Ken Mills Toyota and he had one in stock. Whizze down, grabbed it and fitted it before going for a test drive .. perfect

Now to fit that temp alert unit