1998 tacoma engine feels pretty darn warm ? and anti-theft ideas

needing some help with my toyota. just got this last week ago after 2000 ranger was stolen..(but luckily recovered on tuesday)
had not driven the toyota since buying it last week..yesterday was the first time.
was driving yesterday and noticed after 20mins of errands the engine seemed very very warm. maybe even "hot" I only found out because I learned to take the relay out so no one can steal it.
after parking i went to take the relay out and noticed the hot engine and even the relay was pretty warm when i pulled it out. since i am new to all this I have no idea if this is normal or not..

Was reading on the forum here about using a Scan Gauge. I see a couple models out there.. Scan Gauge II for over $100 bucks and a "compact" scan gauge. if i just want to check the engine temp will the less expensive work, and what might be any drawbacks to that unit?


Also anti - theft suggestions aside from pulling the relay out? thanks for the help?

 

I was considering a ultragauge but members on here dissuaded me from it because u can get a Bluetooth OBII reader from Amazon for 20 bucks and use the torque app for much cheaper. I would look into that option instead of the scangauge

 

anti theft suggestion would be hoping u bought a manual transmission. I had my last truck stolen and burned to the ground in December last year. That's why I bought my taco, sorry to hear u went thru the same with your vehicle being stolen. Cop straight up told me when I mentioned I didn't have an alarm that people can still find ways past it if they want to. Most of the shitheads can't drive a manual transmission tho and won't try with them. Either way I have an alarm from the dealer installed that has a tracker built in and built in kill switch where u can't start it unless alarm is turned off with key fob. I'd look into a good alarm if u have an auto transmission

 

i approve of this
now i gotta find the article from the east coast about that lol


https://myfox8.com/2019/07/19/florida-man-tries-to-steal-car-cant-drive-stick-shift/

 

Install a good alarm and this: https://www.ravelco.com/. \end of thread

 

I have a hidden kill switch wired into the starter circuit. It's my cigarette lighter. Truck only starts with it pushed in. And I can pull it to the open position and leave it in the truck or just take it with me when I leave the vehicle. They're still going to break in and trash the ignition switch but they won't get the truck.

 

How did you set up the kill switch in the cig lighter? Sounds like an interesting write up...

 

How I would do it
I would think pushing the lighter in will close the circuit truck cranks you pop it back out.

I would hope they carry a extra lighter in case this one fails.

No longer heating up it should not be a issue.

 

Scangauge or OBDII scanners only tell you more precisely the temp variations, but it's not like you need one to know if your truck is overheating (assuming your temp gauge is working).

As far as "security" systems all you can really do is not make your truck a target, i.e having a bunch of broverlander crap all over it and parking it in dark alleys.

Best thing is to park it in as secure an area as possible and have good insurance.

Some of those kill switch ideas MIGHT prevent it from being stolen, but you'd be surprised how easy it is for a douchlenozzle to do just as much damage as the vehicle is worth (or nearly so), and certainly make it a big pain in your ass to try and get it fixed.

I had my on Civic broken into from our driveway. At first glance they didn't do hardly any damage, but it turned out they bent the steering column and tore into a bunch of wires under the dash. Total amateurs didn't know what they were doing, but they easily did a couple grand worth of damage to a '99 poverty spec Civic.

Would have preferred they just took it.

 

I disconnected the wiring from the back of the cig. lighter and spliced into the clutch/start circuit. The lighter no longer works as a lighter and I just leave it plugged in most of the time. If I'm in a shady area, I'll pop it out but leave it in the truck or I'll remove it from the truck completely.