the money pit continue,s. this ain,t my first corolla. my other corolla,s were bullet proof even at 150,000 miles. yesterday changed radiator in 2004 ce. now realize temp gage malfunctions. when start car cold it gently rises to about 45% as engine warms. and that,s the end of story. you can park and listen to the fan kick in and later out,etc.,, but the temp needle moves no more. if the fan malfunctions i guess the engine will burn up without further notice. anyone else have to service the gage or sending unit yet ??
the money pit continue,s. this ain,t my first corolla. my other corolla,s were bullet proof even at 150,000 miles. yesterday changed radiator in 2004 ce. now realize temp gage malfunctions. when start car cold it gently rises to about 45% as engine warms. and that,s the end of story. you can park and listen to the fan kick in and later out,etc.,, but the temp needle moves no more. if the fan malfunctions i guess the engine will burn up without further notice. anyone else have to service the gage or sending unit yet ??
Did you correctly bleed all of the air out of the system? Did you replace the t stat?
the money pit continue,s. this ain,t my first corolla. my other corolla,s were bullet proof even at 150,000 miles. yesterday changed radiator in 2004 ce. now realize temp gage malfunctions. when start car cold it gently rises to about 45% as engine warms. and that,s the end of story. you can park and listen to the fan kick in and later out,etc.,, but the temp needle moves no more.
The needle is 45% of what? Are you saying that it's about 45% of the way between Cold and Hot? That's pretty much right where it should be.
honest shady tree mechanic did the work. we didn,t see the usual spots to bleed the system so did not think it was required. we did top off coolant in rad and resivoir as needed. did not change thermostat . believe gage was messing up already.
it rises to about about 45% between cold and hot and sits there. most cars if parked with engine running as engine heats up the needle will rise some more and at some point you will hear the fan start. as the fan cools the motor you will see the needle gradually lower. when it gets down to normal operating temp you will hear the fan turn itself off. none of that needle action is happening.
i had about 40 cars in the last 20 years. i think this is the first one with a needle that did not rise when the engine was getting hot enough for the fan to kick in. a co-worker just told me that these newer cars are built this way on purpose nowadays. hopefully the needle will climb if the engine ever gets so hot that it is red zone. or maybe there,s also some idiot warning light that,ll appear. anyway apparantly all you guys so far are on the same page. thanks for the replys. Jim.
i had about 40 cars in the last 20 years. i think this is the first one with a needle that did not rise when the engine was getting hot enough for the fan to kick in. a co-worker just told me that these newer cars are built this way on purpose nowadays. hopefully the needle will climb if the engine ever gets so hot that it is red zone. or maybe there,s also some idiot warning light that,ll appear. anyway apparantly all you guys so far are on the same page. thanks for the replys. Jim.
dont take this as an attack, but why would the needle rise if the fan is kicking in? The point of the fan kicking in is to keep it at normal T. Also, I dont think the t'stat is meant to rise and drop so sharply, therefore you will not really see the small delta T.
i think the purpose of the gage/needle is to show as accurate a reading as possible. if the engine temp increase warrants the fan to kick in it seems that temp rise should have been noted by the needle. most cars as the temp increases you,ll see the needle slightly climbing. when it reaches a certain point ,the the fan commences to cool the engine. as the engine cools you will see needle drop slowly down untill it reaches the normal op temperature spot. then the fan will turn itself off. i,m goona go to a local dealer and observe some of the used 2004,s just to see if all work the same. i,ve got alot of cash into this car and i sure don,t want it to burn up by accident.
i think the purpose of the gage/needle is to show as accurate a reading as possible. if the engine temp increase warrants the fan to kick in it seems that temp rise should have been noted by the needle.
It's probably a good idea to see if other 2004s do the same thing, but I'll tell you that the way your '04 is operating is exactly how my '07 operates. The needle doesn't move once warmed up, even as the engine's temperature cycles up and down and the radiator fan cycles on and off.
Modern temperature gauges are nothing more than glorified idiot lights. To the car guys like us, a dead accurate gauge means something. To most of the motoring public, a gauge that cycles up and down all the time says that there must be a problem. There's a huge buffer designed into the programming to prevent folks from thinking there's a problem when really there's not. I guess in a sense, it had the reverse effect in this case.
I've got a 06 corrolla and my experience with the temp gauge is that it's not useful.
I have a ScanGauge and can monitor water temps digitally. The "Normal" temp is generally about 182 degrees, the fan kicks in at around 202. But AFA the Toyota supplied gauge, it really doesn't indicate any decernable movement between 180 and 200. the gauge seems pegged to about 45% of full range.
dont take this as an attack, but why would the needle rise if the fan is kicking in? The point of the fan kicking in is to keep it at normal T. Also, I dont think the t'stat is meant to rise and drop so sharply, therefore you will not really see the small delta T.
Actually, there's likely a pretty big change in temperature here. The Toyota thermostat begins to open at 180*F. The coolant fan is programmed not to operate at temperatures below 199*F. There's a range of temperatures there where the engine can operate without the use of the cooling fan.
Incidentally, thinking further, if the cooling fan is kicking on on the original poster's car, we necessarily know that the coolant temperature sensor is operating properly. There's only one temperature sensor on the engine. The ECU knows the engine temperature and commands the gauge to read as it does and commands the cooling fan on and off. So as long as that cooling fan is operating, we know the ECU is getting good data. I suppose one could verify this even further and check the engine temperature at which the cooling fan engages, but in all likelihood, it's dead on.
I hope to get a ScanGauge II in the near future -- that's got all sorts of data points that you can watch live, as you drive. It'll be neat to actually verify all the data points that are used by the ECU as you move down the road.
I have an 03-100K and since day one once the needle hits that half way point it never fluctuates up or down no matter how severe the heat/cold is or when the fans kick on even driving with my AC on in 100+ temps in traffic... It's always at the halfway point, I think if it goes up and down like some older cars do you have a problem with the fans kicking on at the wrong time, maybe with the fan sensor switch or your temp gauge sensor! One tip when doing a coolant refill always "burp" that system
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