94 Explorer, temp always low

[mmccorm]

I have a 94 Explorer, 4.0, with 115,000 miles. I've had it for a year. The temp gage rarely registers higher than maybe 1/4 of the way over C, or whatever is at the cold end of the gauge. The previous owner claims to have replaced the t-stat just prior to my buying the car. The heater works well and doesn't take very long to heat. Since the temp registers so low, I would normally assume the t-stat was stuck open, but the heater works great. I also have the towing package. Is it normal for it to operate with the temp hovering all the way to the left or just barely off of the leftmost indicator? Since the heater works fine, is this possibly an indication that my temp sending unit needs to be replaced?

Normally I'd just yank the t-stat and put a new one in, but it's not as trivial on the Explorer as it is on everything else I've owned.

Thanks for any help or suggestions.

Mike

 

[94Matt]

my 94 does the same thing. I was wondering if the t-stat was broken because it has never gotten very hot at all.

 

[amigo]

Guys,

Check your T-stat. Mine was doing the same thing for a long time. Then all of a sudden when I was going down the road it overheated, blew the side out of the radiator and cracked both heads. Check it out quick.

 

[lmacmil]

Same problem on my '96. Ran cool all the time. Replaced the thermostat and everything is fine. The serpentine belt has to come off to get at it, so replace that at the same time. Anyway, with a functioning thermostat, you can watch the gage up move and down as it opens and closes. Usually goes to just under the halfway point, then falls down back to where it used to sit when the thermostat was stuck open.

 

[Bill Kemp]

The thermostat is a little hard to reach but you dont have to remove the serp. belt to change it.
The only thing I removed was the air tube from the air cleaner to the throtle body. Not much more that a 1/2 hour job. And it should increase your fuel mileage once you get the engine up to operating temp.

 

[itzbinnice]

I had same problem on my 95X with always a very low reading on my temp gauge. I removed the temperture sending unit from the block and used steel wool and polished the copper sensor as well as the electrical connector (only has 1 wire).
Put that puppy back in and it worked like a charm.
I replaced it about two years later although it was still working as preventive maintenance along with the thermostat. You could try cleaning it, but they're cheap enough from the local auto parts store to replace.
The reason I cleaned mine was I wasn't sure exactly what the problem was and that was the cheapest way to troubleshoot, and it paid off.

 

[Jason94sport]

This was happening on my 94 when I picked it up. I drove it 1500 miles straight form Boston, to south FL. Later when I was doing a tune up, I replaced the thermostat. Now the temp is with the normal range like it should be. A test of the theromstat indicated it was stuck open. My heat was also working fine, as well as the AC. I would start there.