3rd & 4th Generation (1992–1996 & 1997–2001)Toyota Camry Discussion for years: 1992-1996 & 1997-2001
Topics of discussion range from fuel economy, safety, modifications, performance all involving America's favorite family car, the Toyota Camry.
So, the temp. guage never goes all the way to the middle where it's supposed to be. it gets about 1/4 of the way to halfway. When i turn my heater on when it's at this point, the air is warm, but not hot. No matter how long the car runs the guage never goes up.
Today my brother took the hoses off the heater core and put a garden hose to one end, blew water through it letting the water come out the other hose. Then he switched to the other hose. We hoped this might get rid of any clogs but the problem is still there. The only difference is that when i went into a store and came back out 1 minute later and started it, the guage was mysteriously at the half way point and then as i drove it immediately started back down to the 1/4 spot mentioned before.
I really do not have any ideas as to what the problem is and my brother can't think of what it could be either. Any ideas?
The car has nearly 200k miles so thermostat needing to be replaced could make sense. I'm not 100% about how everything works so can you possibly explain to me why you think the thermostat opening prematurely could cause my problem?
I think what BMR is saying is that the thermostat opening too soon and allowing the coolant to circulate in the radiator and not allowing the engine temperature to heat up enough to build up enough heat. Usually when cold the thermostat restrict the coolant circulation in the engine until it reaches the set temp of the thermostat, which then opens up to allow the coolant to circulate into the radiator to allow some of the heat to radiate off into the air. But with the thermostat opening too soon, the coolant never reach that set temp, so the coolant never got the hot.
With 200k, it is entirely possible that the thermostat actually have stuck open.
Did this just start happening? Are the radiator fans running all the time?
N.E.O.
Last edited by new echo owner; 12-07-2008 at 10:46 PM.
because if its stuck open its constantly letting coolant through the engine and the engine wont warm up it supposed to close and let the engine warm up and once it hits its target warmth it'll open up to keep it from over heating
my bros integra is like that but he never worried about fixing it
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97 Camry: 17" Enkei rims, lowered with Ground Control and tokico,
Alpine head, mids, and highs, rockford 4-channel, 12" P3 rockford,
MTX monoblock, TRD RSB, Clear Corners, 6K Mod Express HID kit
I think the car not comming upto working temp atually causes lower fuel economy. The car is designed to run at a certain temp. It will burn more fuel if the engine is cold. And having a t-stat open keeps that baby cold for a longer time.
But yea its the t-stat. It only hurts fuel ecomomy and may be bad for the engine of you cant heat the oil to proper working temp if it gets really cold. May stay slugdegy at f 40-.
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I lost my Camry in a parking lot once, Now it will never happen again
Alright, well i guess thats my next move then since i hear they are relatively cheap to buy and i can put it in myself. If anyone else has any other advice or further confirmation that it is indeed the t-stat please feel free to chime in
I think what BMR is saying is that the thermostat opening too soon and allowing the coolant to circulate in the radiator and not allowing the engine temperature to heat up enough to build up enough heat. Usually when cold the thermostat restrict the coolant circulation in the engine until it reaches the set temp of the thermostat, which then opens up to allow the coolant to circulate into the radiator to allow some of the heat to radiate off into the air. But with the thermostat opening too soon, the coolant never reach that set temp, so the coolant never got the hot.
With 200k, it is entirely possible that the thermostat actually have stuck open.
Did this just start happening? Are the radiator fans running all the time?
N.E.O.
Sorry, just caught this post. This just started happening a couple weeks ago and with college and finals and such i've just recently found time to deal with it. The radiator fans do not spin all the time. One of them for sure was not spinning, my brother was in my way when we were looking at it while it was running so i couldnt see if the other one was.
Is it a four or six? Four is easy, six requires a little more work. And there is a certain way to install a Toyota t/stat too. Do a search, you will probably find some information on that.
N.E.O.
Last edited by new echo owner; 12-07-2008 at 11:05 PM.
Is it a four or six? Four is easy, six requires a little more work. And there is a certain way to install a Toyota t/stat too. Do a search, you will probably find some information on that.
Are the radiator fans working properly? Because if the fans are staying on all the time it will also over cool the engine. And did the problem just started recently? Any repair work done?
N.E.O.
It's a 4 cyl. The radiator fans seem to be working properly tho. I guess it's possible that the 1 could be spinning constantly but i dont think that is the case. I'll have to look next time. The only repair work i've had done is replacing the timing belt. They replace the the seals and water pump at this time also.
Hmm, water pump! How long ago was that? Depending on whether the complete water pump, front and back cover, or just the front water pump cover, either way, should have replace the thermostat too with so many miles on the car. Especially when the thermostat is right there.
Well, i had a repair shop do it, i decided that the whole process was a little too much for me and just didnt have the time. That was about a month or two ago maybe. I went to o reilly's and bought a whole water pump and gave it to the shop to replace if that tells you anything. I didn't know that thermostat was a thing to replace at high mileage...well honestly i didnt really know what a thermostat was until the problem occured and i researched it lol
Usually a thermostat doesn't often affect by mileage but can. The reason I said that was because it is right next to the water pump and hardly take any additional labor to replace it at that time, just two nuts.
No big deal, it is easy to get to in a four cylinder. Anyway, as I had mentioned, a Toyota t/stat requires the little jiggle wire to face upward, and don't forget to replaced the o-ring seal together.
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