Would you use a radiator flush cleaner during your coolant flush?

Thermostat is as easy as draining the coolant, unbolting 3 bolts, removing old tstat, placing new one, rebolting housing, and refilling coolant. I just did it last week.

 

Wow, OK..you are helping me out lots here. Thank you. I am still new-ish to owning a 1st Gen, so there are things to learn. Now, to find those three bolts you speak of

EDIT: there seems to be some Youtube videos that will serve as quasi-reliable references for this

 

I used it at 25% strength in the heater core only. Let I soak for 2 hours. Helped loosen some black crud out of it. Flushed it all out and the heater ran much better this last winter. Didn’t harm a thing even at that strength.

 

For the record, I think you’re fine with current temps. But here’s a pic of the location if you still want to change out the Tstat:



EDIT: This was taken from UNDERNEATH on the driver's side

 

Thank you much @jeg0005 I appreciate the assistance in understanding things more. I think I'll just be good with the temps and keep monitoring for worsening results (which I don't anticipate). There are other things on the "fix/update" list. Thanks again

 

I already flushed the old coolant 5 different times with distilled. Thanks for chiming in though - I'll keep that in mine at the next 30k interval.

 

Now, a few things...

1) As you can see in my pic, there is coolant fucking everywhere. There is a bracket that gets bolted onto one of those bolts. I was an idiot and put it between the tstat housing the the block. Don't do this, but IF you do...drain the coolant from the engine before trying to fix it or this will happen.


2) You can only see 1 bolt in this picture. That's because the other two came out. The first time I removed them (before mistake #1 above) all 3 came out. Now I'm not sure if they're supposed to, but they did. But after removing the housing again, only 2 came out. I've had not issues since bolting everything back on the correct way so I'm not terribly worried about it.


I was only capable of oil changes before I started this back in January of this year. So far with the help of TacomaWorld users, I've changed my transmission shifter bushings, replaced axle bearings/seals, tested an e locker actuator, removed a third-member to inspect the gears...this site is wonderful!

 

No problem man. Like my last post says, I owe a lot to the TacomaWorld Gods. I'm just trying to pay it forward.

 

totally! I bought a first gen (or older analog truck) so I could do more work myself. I am building my skill set outside of carpentry and solar so it is nice to get my hands dirty and work with these trucks that have so many people still offering support for. TW is a great, great thing. One of the better sites I've been on for sure. Thanks again for the help - I'll be sure to pass along the goodness as I accumulate skills/experiences.

 

Sounds like the temperature is perfect. Thermostat starts to open at 180F so the coolant inside the engine is slightly warmer. You don't want it cooler or it becomes less efficient.

The bolts for the thermostat housing that jeg0005 mentioned look like studs. You need to be sure they are fully threaded into the holes if they came out or are loose.

But it sounds like you don't need to replace the tstat based on your current temps.

 

Thank you for confirming. I feel better about the operating temps. I think the temp gauge on the dash cluster was what had me convinced I was running high still, and it makes sense with a 180F tstat that a mid to low 180s is entirely within range.

Thanks for the response!

 

You did nothing wrong. Climbing long grades as you do you're temps are normal. With summer coming on in the mountain states climbing grades is going to raise the temp. Not only that, but once you stop climbing (working the engine) temps go up for a while once the heat from climbing is wearing off. I can run at 181 degrees here in southern Wyoming and once I get off the interstate my temps can climb to 188 and as high as 196 on a hot day depending on the ambient temp.

It seems to me you're cooling system is working just fine. Just wait a year and do what you just did again. After that you can probably go two years. That's what I do.

I don't know what rpm you are running climbing the gradual grade but don't "lug" the engine. That alone will make it run hotter. If you have a 2.7 you have to rev them to climb steep grades. Higher rpm spins the water pump quicker and you get a little better cooling. For that matter that would apply to a V-6. "Lugging" an engine to save fuel doesn't do the engine any good. Rev it when it is working. I very rarely run my 2.7 under 2000 rpm. Even around town.

You don't have to worry about temperature unless you are up in the 190's cruising around town on a 70 degree day. You don't have to worry about engine damage unless you are running 200+ around town. Even serious off-roading at 200+ for short periods of time won't hurt your engine. I hit 200+ degrees once with my 2.7 spinning up a long, steep hill I shouldn't have tried to climb and my engine is just fine.

Do NOT change your thermostat from what is recommended for your engine. That was fine in the 70's. Not in this day and age. If it has a 180 degree thermostat from the factory then that's what you run. Coolant temp interacts with the ECM and everything else in the computer management system. If you alter the coolant temp you can screw everything up.

If your coolant temp gauge is reading wrong then you could change the sensors. I think there are two of them. However, chances are another flush like you just did will clean out the system a little more and they will be fine.

I'd wait until next summer and do what you just did again and maybe run a flush like Prestone through the cooling system before the "distilled water flush".

 

Thank you for that helpful info and support! I am keeping things as they are and will take you advice on the flush next summer. Appreciate it!

 

So I'm a dummy and drained hot water via the petcock only and then refilled with room temperature water in the radiator after about 10-15 minutes of waiting for it to drain. Is that gonna fuck something up? I didn't use the engine block drain bolt yet.

 

I have never had problems doing just that even several cycles many times over the years.

Run the Engine to the thermostat opens drain and repeat till things came out clean

Now a overheated where the gauge is pegged who can say most likely the damage is done already .

The larger the difference in temperature between Hot and Cold is when you can compound problems.

 

is there a gasket something needs replaced when you undo 3 bolts or it just bolt up right back on

 

there is a gasket, but you may or may not need to replace it.

 

I doubt you hurt anything. I wouldn't make a habit of it though. I'm late to answer because I only get to this forum once in a while these days. If you did hurt anything you'd know by now, Don't worry about it.

 

For what it is worth I recall the hot set up for flushing Engines was adding in Calgon ( A dish washer additive) back in my youth .

I can`t recall if I ever tried that or not.