Ok, first of all, this is what I am working with..

1993 Ranger 2wd
2.3 Lima 5 speed manual
no a/c

I have had the truck for about 4 months now and the temp gauge on the dash would come up a little, but never go past the "C" mark.

I figured it was a stuck open thermostat, because my heat wasnt real strong either. So today I bought a new thermostat and gasket, installed it, and drove it back home in which it had plenty of time to warm up. The gauge never went past the "C" mark..so now I am just assuming that it is the coolant sensors. I heard there is more than one, but which one goes to the gauge? And has anyone else had this problem?

I am the type of guy who likes to keep an eye on my gauges while driving, and I would like to know if the engine is running too hot or cool

Any help is appreciated

 

What type of thermostat did you install in your truck was it a motorcraft one? I went through quite a few t-stats and had the same problem as you untill i got a motorcraft one now the temp gage sits right in the middle and oh my god talk about heat!

 

the new one I put in there looked exactly like the stock one..195 degress I believe. I put it in boiling water and made sure it opened and closed, so there is no reason for the engine to be running that cool. so I was just wondering where the temp sender is and what I will need to take it off. I also heard that flushing your heater core does wonders I will try that too and see if the heat gets better.

 

Ice COLD!!!

 

x2

 

Sovled!

I found the sender on the drivers side of the block...be careful there is the oil sender right above it that has the same wire hook up so dont be fooled.

I took the sender out and alot of coolant came out so I decided to flush my heater core while I had the system open, so I flushed the heater core real well, and put new coolant in it and the heat is alot better and my gauge works now.

note: the size for the sender is 11/16 and is easy to get to from underneath the truck, and make sure you're out of the way when you take it out as coolant will come dumping out.