Car doesn't run over 100 degrees F

[BBody360]

I just purchased an older truck; sadly its a chevy but couldn't pass up a good deal. Plus I needed one while the mopar was getting painted.

Anyways, I drove it home from where I purchased it, and the most I saw on the temp gauge was 120 degrees F (cruising 2k at 70 for about 20 minutes).

Its a 1993 Chevy C1500 - 6 cyl 5 spd.

First I though the coolant temp sensor was the culprit, so I swapped it out, still no dice on the dash gauge.. SO I went and purchased a mechanical gauge from Advanced and installed it. Drove the car around the block; ran it for 10 minutes at idle, then turned off and rechecked the temp 30 minutes later. Still under 100 degrees. Is it possible that truck doesn't run over 100 degrees? Maybe thermostat is broke?

I'm about to pull the mech gauge and put a flame on the sensor to see if it works.

I've splashed Coolant on my hand after I've driven it, and its only about as warm a warm shower.

PS: I know this ain't a mopar; but i figured you guys would know without me having to sign up for another forum.

Thanks.

 

[1968RRTEXAS]

Someone probably removed the thermostat to keep it cool. So currently the coolant is running through the engine and radiator without ever stopping in the engine to warm up.

 

[BBody360]

Alright, that's the only thing I could think of.

Damn Chevy guys....

 

[72Fourspeed]

Drill the new one !

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Or its just stuck open. Try a new one

 

[slepr1]

Is the rad cap holding pressure? You can easily check to see if a thermostat is installed/working by leaving the rad cap off, starting the engine and look in the rad neck to see if water is moving. This works for my mopar, not sure if its possible on a Chev.

 

[cryplydog]

Your location says you are in the south, does that mean the south pole? 100* degrees is very hard for me to realize in my thick skull. you must have one hell of a cooling system for what combustion temps. have to be. Do you have a good automotive thermometer. would be interesting what the temp. would be after letting it run till its thouroly warmed up.

 

[wannadrag]

T stat is stuck open

 

[Dako]

Get something like this and point it at the water temp sensor location. It will tell you (within a couple deg.) what your actual temperature is. You will find many other uses for this thing as well. Got a similar (cheaper) one as a gift last year. Should have bought one for myself long before that!

http://www.lowes.com/pd_73790-56005...Search=infrared+tempearture&productId=3136869

Amazon has them even cheaper...