Hey all,

I'm borderline religious about watching my engine temp gauge, and it's never gone above the center... Until Saturday night. I noticed the gauge was at about 3/4 while cruising through some deep sand in a canyon. I shut the engine off immediately, and sat for a couple minutes before starting it back up to move off the trail. The gauge was right back in the middle, so I turned around and headed home. The whole drive home, the gauge never moved above the middle and the truck didn't seem to be showing any signs of overheating so I chalked it up to a faulty gauge or temp sensor.

This morning I had the time to poke around under the hood, and I noticed that the hose that connects to the top of the t-stat has dried coolant at both ends - definitely something goin' on there. The expansion tank appears to be empty as well.

I'm thinking that I should start by replacing the hose and thermostat, as well as adding an OBDII-based temp gauge (maybe a bluetooth OBDII dongle and an app for my phone? Ultragauge?). I have my suspicions about the root cause, but I **REALLY** hope I'm wrong on this one.

Aside from the t-stat, hose, and more accurate temp gauge is there anything else I should do at this stage? Also, can anyone provide a part number for this "grey t-stat" I've been reading about? Is it the "soft spring" unit from Atlantic British (PEL500110)? What t-stat should I run in Arizona? It's been 110* F here all last week!

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Ultragauge will alert you way before your temp goes past half and its recommended around here. Tstat leaking could be the hose needed replacement. I think that going into deep sand made your engine work harder and pump more fluid around so the weakest part of your cooling system gave way to pressure. Also trapped sand around your radiator can cause it as well. I think Lucky8 have those 180 thermostat.