T-stat again?? UHG!

[Voymom]

Keeping it short and sweet.

It was slightly chilly yesterday(close to 70 degrees) and as I was driving down the road at about 45 mph, I noticed my Temperature gauge was 2 lines to the left. We JUST put a new t-stat in less than 2 months ago. Getting on the gas did cause the temp to rise a bit, but I had already been driving it for about 7 minutes.


I know it's a fairly common thing in these trucks, but what would cause a t-stat to go bad in less than 2 months? It was an OEM brand new t-stat.

Thanks

 

[ScarabEpic22]

Hmmm, do you have access to a scan tool? One that can actually display real-time data? I wonder if your temp sending unit is bad, the tstats are common, but the sending units are fairly common as well.

 

[jrSS]

Ur guage is just a dummy gauge. Its not actual temp. U need to check real time temp. to make sure its a bad therm.

 

[Voymom]

I didn't think about either of those. I don't have a scan tool at all. Is it something autozone can do or do I need to take it to a shop and have it done?

 

[kardain]

I didn't think about either of those. I don't have a scan tool at all. Is it something autozone can do or do I need to take it to a shop and have it done?

Probably neither. The water temperature sensor may be able to be bench tested using a pot of boiling water, a known accurate thermometer, and a multimeter. I'll look up the specs after work (90-ish minutes) and see what the resistance ranges are on an OEM sensor.

 

[djthumper]

I didn't think about either of those. I don't have a scan tool at all. Is it something autozone can do or do I need to take it to a shop and have it done?

You can buy the scanner and have to read your codes and monitor things like this.

 

[kardain]

Probably neither. The water temperature sensor may be able to be bench tested using a pot of boiling water, a known accurate thermometer, and a multimeter. I'll look up the specs after work (90-ish minutes) and see what the resistance ranges are on an OEM sensor.

If I'm reading the service manuals right, should be ≈177 ohms across pin b to ground when in 100* c water. Pin b is the yellow wire, ground is the threads.

However there is only a pass/fail test GM uses. The sensor is considered disposable.

 

[FlyingFischer]

This is one of the reasons I got a scangauge II. That way I can get the actual temp readout of the water temp, trans temp, and many other parameters. Best money spent.