Whats up with my engine temperature?

Brand new Taco.

I notice that when I start the ignition, the engine temperature meter varies. Sometimes, it will be all the way to the left (below "cool), and other times, it may be as high as 50% between cold and red-band hot. Is this normal?

What causes the engine temperature to fluctuate at the time of ignition.

I don't know anything about cars. Just checking. Thanks!

 

An engine will "hold" heat just like a burger lol. So 20 minutes after a drive, your engine will still have heat from the previous drive. If you start it up, it will be warm, not cool.

 

The Prius takes it one step further, they have a thermos type cannister to keep the coolant up to temperature longer.

 

Not enough info in the OP. Are you talking about first start each morning, or start ups throughout the day after the truck has been driven?

 

Damn Prius, HIDs, touch to enter on both sides, canister, what next, TRD 4 by 4 with tow package? For a cheaper vehicle they really put all the bells n whistles for these tree huggers.

 

^This

 

That gauge is reading the coolant temperature. I believe our thermostat is 190°. So when you first start your car for the first time of the day, it’ll take a while to reach 190° (middle of the H and L) then it’ll stay there.

If you drive then stop and turn it off, as you could imagine, heat it still in the engine. So it’ll either start above the “L” or it’ll reach the mid point quicker.

As long as the needle isn’t leaning toward the “H” or the needle isn’t remaining in the “L” too long, no worries and enjoy your new taco!

 

I am not 100% sure. I will check the morning temperature and report back. I think the heat-retention like a burger analogy makes sense.

I would like to take a moment to thank everybody who has taken time to post. I plan to buy some sort of "trucks for dummies" book to learn the basics of my vehicle.

 

Check your glove box. It came with a manual.

 

If it's doing this after sitting all night, my guess would be a wonky gauge cluster.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/2017-dash-cluster-issues.517559/

 

If you want to start with automotive basics, howstuffworks is quite good:

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/engine1.htm

Weber Auto on youtube has lots of excellent content as well. Explanation of 4WD operation on a Tundra (pretty much identical to the Tacoma):

https://youtu.be/47m7QAPrpsI

If you're already good with this stuff, well NVM lol.

 

This site is basically your "trucks fo dummies" book.
Stay a while.

 

So I st

So I started the engine in the morning, and the needle was all the way at "C". Within a few minutes, it got up to the middle of the range, and stayed there for the next few ignitons. It did not tip towards "H" at any point.

So, is that normal?

 

Yes, that's normal.

 

Yes.

 

using your bed as a living room has been known to cause thermostat issues.

 

Yes, very normal. As long as you’re not drifting away from the middle of the range and going to “H”, you’re good.

It’s actually better to start the truck with a warmer engine.

 

OP is this your first time owning a vehicle, just curious.

 

Yes, hence my many questions and my excitement.

I previously leased a compact for a couple years, but that is no comparison.

Thanks to all.

 

not to get technical but that is not how our engine works as shown in the video. ours, thanks to the atkins cycle, the intake valve stays open at the beginning of the compression stroke there by de tuning the engine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gD2AQuhbHdk