95 chevy truck running to cool
 

My 95 chevy doesn't get up to 195 degrees, temp of thermostat. According to the temp gauge it is running around 150 degrees. I have checked it with a separate thermometer and it appears the gauge is correct. My understanding is if it runs cold the computer will keep it running in cold mode and gas milage will suffer. Any suggestions welcome.


Thanks Ronnie

Did you check to see if it has a thermostat and what temp it is?

tstat may be stuck open or completely missing depending where you live or who had the pickup before you

I have had the truck since 97 and it has a 195 degree thermostat in it. My first thought was it is stuck open, I put a new one in it and checked the old one and it semed to be working ok. I forgot to mention that it is a 5.7 engine, if that helps any.

Thanks Ronnie

Does yours have an ECT sensor (for the PCM) and a separate ECT sender (for the I/P cluster)? If so, I'm not sure where you measured the temperature but you may not have anything to worry about. It's not likely that two difference thermostats show the same "symptom."

I am not sure I know what the ECT sensor is or the I/P cluster. I measured the temperture with a thermometer in the radiator.

Pardon me, ECT is short for "engine coolant temperature" and I/P, "instrument panel." And, a thermometer in a radiator is not really a good way to measure the temperature of the coolant where it counts (near the thermostat). Is the issue something new to this vehicle or are you just fishing?

Does the truck have plenty of heat? Take the temp of heat coming out of vents. Does that temp drop when driving.

Just to throw my .02 in my tahoe gauge always read around 150 but my hand held scanner shows the computer is getting the proper temp reading of 195 or whatever temp t-stat I put it in awhile back. I would assume the gauge on mine is taking temp from a different spot then the computer. Maybe possible thats what yours is doing.

theres usually a sender for the gauge and a sender for the pcm