2017 tacoma not getting up to temp..

So for the past week or so my truck hasn't been getting much past the first tick on the temp gauge. It has been cold here in Colorado but after a 4-5 hour drive through the mountains that included a decent amount of off-roading, it should be at temp for sure. I leave Monday morning to go do the wiring and electrical work on the next C4 fab giveaway truck and I will be seeing negative temperatures, so I want this fixed asap. It's currently 10 degrees out and I'm not looking forward to replacing a thermostat that I would have to drive two hours to pick up from the nearest dealer with it in stock... Any one have any idea what could be causing this besides a stuck open thermostat? Do I have to replace it or could I get by with unsticking it? Lol

Techstream is reading ~155° idle and ~149 driving.

 

I would say thermostat not closing properly for sure. Get yourself into a heated garage for that work thou!

 

Could always try some cardboard or something between grille and radiator to block SOME of the airflow. Works on my big truck.

 

We used to do the same thing on my dad k5 blazer. We custom cut some black plexi that just snapped into the grill.

 

I just picked up a thermostat housing from Toyota and I'm going to stop and get some coolant and a drain pan on my way home. I'm going to try to block the radiator first, if that works then I pretty much know that it's the thermostat staying wide open. Thanks for the quick responses everyone!

 

Update, the thermostat is closed, and somehow the truck's not getting warm. Even with a piece of cardboard completely blocking the radiator.... How is this possible....

 

Air trapped in system, is next most likely cause, I would guess.

Not sure how that would happen, unless you are losing coolant. You didn't say anything about checking for a leak. Start there.

 

Replacing the thermostat might still be a good idea, if you can't find any other issues.

 

Maybe it has a 160 degree thermostat if the truck was originally purchased from a warm State. Edit: slap a 195 degree into that Bitch.

 

It's definitely a florida truck, but I just had the thermostat out and I think it said 183, maybe 187? The fluid level was fine in both the radiator and the bottle, with no signs of a leak anywhere except maybe a tiny bit of seepage around where some of the hoses connect but definitely not a leak or any sort of dripping. I've been sitting in a parking lot for about half an hour now gently revving the engine and holding a little bit higher rpms, I finally got it up to temp with that cardboard blocking the entire radiator. The head master tech one of the largest Toyota dealerships near me basically said to not worry about it and see if I still have problems with it warming up when the weather gets a little bit warmer. We're in the single digits right now so obviously that's hurting it but I don't think that I should have to block my radiator on a brand new truck for it to get up to temp. Blocking radiator also tells me that the thermostat is opening otherwise blocking the radiator wouldn't do anything. But, the thermostat was most certainly closed when I took it out of the truck and it was still pretty warm when I took it out being that I didn't wait for the truck to cool down at all and it only takes 10 minutes to get off. I think I'm going to drive to South Dakota with the radiator pretty much blocked and I'll monitor the temperature closely {comma} if I run into an issue I have that extra thermostat housing with me and I'll just throw it in there and hope it fixes the problem.

Also, does anyone have any idea why we have what looks like some sort of electric actuator on our thermostat? It plugs into a two-pin plug and has a little bar going down to the thermostat as if the truck opens and closes the thermostat electronically. I can't even tell if there's a spring in there because the way the housing is you can't really see inside it...

 

180 is a cold thermostat. Edit: go 195 and you’ll be able to smoke a rack of ribs on the passenger seat

 

So this is pretty interesting, I decided to turn the heater on and pull the cardboard out to see how steeply the temperature dropped. And went from right around 198 to 202 down into the 180s and it's been hovering there ever since, including while driving up to highway speeds and while driving with the heater blasting.... So maybe I just need to force the truck up to temperature and it will stay there? Still doesn't seem right to have to do that but I could definitely do that before driving all the way up to South Dakota in a couple days...

Sorry guys, I'm from Florida, so me and this truck are both very confused about single digits apparently...even though I had no issues with it doing this in the past?

 

I think they make a 205 degree, as well but not sure

 

I'm pretty sure they done make aftermarket or higher temp thermostats for these motors yet. I could barely find a factory replacement as it was. And I spend summers wheeling in 100+ degree hear so I really don't wanna go any higher. Maybe go with a higher thermostat and better radiator one day as a balance? Assuming they both work the way they should that should do it haha

 

I noticed if I get on it some to build heat when temperatures are close to what you’re experiencing, I get nice heat. If not my 18 minute ride to work and home is on the cooler side of things.

 

I can completely see with a 180 degree thermostat and single digit air continuously running over the radiator the truck not warming up. Ie. There’s a reason you see 18 wheelers blocking the grill off in the winter.

 

I understand that for sure, but I drove for 5 hours the other day in the 20s and 30s and it still never got to temp..

 

You might try listening to the Toyota head master tech.

I would not change to a hotter tstat. Modern vehicles are pretty temp sensitive. The wiring you ask about is likely a sensor feeding the ECU.

 

Obviously it's not a brand new truck. But at the same time it's new enough with right around 40,000 miles on it the thermostat shouldn't be going bad, and it's also much more electronically controlled and driven then older trucks are. I guess I should clarify that by a new I don't mean right off the lot but rather modern.

and yeah I'm definitely not going to be putting a higher Temp thermostat in a truck that I wheel hard all summer long and take down to Mexico in the summer.

 

I live in northern maine. It was -14 up here and my truck got to temp. I let it idle for about 10 minutes before taking off and after 15 minutes of driving it was at the middle line pointing 12 o'clock. There may be an issue with your truck. Maybe air in the system but as someone else said in not sure how that could happen.