3.4 tacoma thermostat

Hello everyone once again.. so im having an issue with the truck once again. 301k mile so the issue is that its been running pretty hot at times, its usally at 194 max and lately its been going up to 200 so i changed out the thermostat and i installed a new one from my local part store and installed it at the 6oclock position and when i refilled it it got to operating temp and it keeped going up and when my scanner read 211 and my actual truck temp gauge moved up i shut it off. Im puzzled now what did i do wrong ? Was i supposed to drain all the coolant untill empty then install or ???

 

And now it overheats when i start it up and turn on my ac.. my radiator looks like it’s aftermarket so its not the oem and it does have a little slash on the back because the fan broke while driving slashing. It when it came off the clutch. But even then it wouldn’t overheat and i been with that radiator ever since untill now that the trucks temp been high im wondering if that should be replaced.
And i had no leaks of coolant or anything,so my water pump probably aint it either.. the only other thing was that when removing the thermostat it looked fine no symptoms of rust or anything the jiggle valve moved freely so what can it be?

 

So it sounds like a headgasket but lets eliminate things.

If the thermostat didnt change anything and the system is full, its not that. If you really want to go nuts, remove the thermostat and run just the gasket to confirm.

You need to check fan clutch operation.

You need to make sure the radiator and condenser are clean, especially between the two.

You may need to do a headgasket chemical check, they arent perfect but its a likely thing.

 

I know i have a valve cover gasket leak but idk about a head gasket how would i know other then a leak or burnt oil junk around the engine? I dont have any leaks and the fan clutch is good its got tension when i spin it either way im thinking radiator just bc how its been damaged and i see some type of brown slugish shit and also idk when it was replaced nor does it look oem. But idk ig ill find out tomorrow…

 

Are you sure it's not just a parts store POS thermostat?
Might take it out and put it in some boiling water to make sure it opens, we've seen quite a few defective thermostats from parts stores lately.

Had a Dodge 3.6 awhile back it took 3 thermostats to get one that opened at the right temp.

 

Should i put my old one back in and see if it makes any difference? Or should i take the thermostat out and run it to see if it overheats? Will that indicate that it is indead a thermostat?

 

I'd put them both in a pot of boiling water and see if they work, you need to have a working thermostat in place for the cooling system to work properly.

 

So I replaced the radiator today and when it came out and i saw tge slash on the back of it i couod see it had started to leak a little tiny bit bc there was pink dried colant and its running better much better its not overheating anymore yet i do notice that my temp is up and down now creeps up when stopped iv noticed but not anywhere near 215. It goes up to 150.8 to be exact so that left me wondering if the AutoZone thermostat isnt working how it should..

 

And thankyou guys for always giving good feedback im starting to get a bit woried bc there is alot of oil gunk around the valve covers and it follows down by the oil pan so i probably should get it checked soon

 

Ohh and i put 2 gallons of 50/50 mix coolant for asian cars atleast thats what the lable read not the best quality but still wanna throw it out its the only thing they had that was compatible and red

 

UPDATE it wasnt the problem it helped but today driving out az weather in the day time it still managed to creep to 199 so thats way too hot for me so i would have to turn my heater on and that wasnt fun at all…. I love this truck this is the gen i wanted and the trim i wanted it and its becoming so unreliable so next is a new radiator cap since i reused mine iknow iknow i should of known better but we will see if this aint it im taking it in for check up. If motor is not good im going lS swap smh

 

199 isn't too bad if it's hot out, I wouldn't start getting concerned until around 210 although your really not in danger of hurting anything until you get up over around 220-230 for an extended period.

If it's slowly climbing when under load but fine otherwise it's probably a restricted radiator though.


Most modern vehicles run in that 195-210 range (195 thermostat), Toyota is the only one I know of that runs a 180 thermostat on alot of their stuff.

 

I did not know this thankyou for this information