Engine temp gage

[ZZ13]

Does the gauge go from cold up to 120F when warming up and then stay there, or is it stuck on 120F no matter what? I'm thinking maybe you got something stuck in the thermostat itself, not allowing it to close completely when it cools off...so it's always open a little, not letting the engine get to normal operating temperature.

I wonder if the original poster figured out his issue? Be curious to know what it turned out to be.

btw, nice 175! Nice to see they haven't changed all that much, it's a great little boat.

Tom

It stuck at 120 no matter what, I think. I never really let it cool to room temp yet. I'll pull it out of the garage tomorrow and run the ear muffs and see if it works its way up to 120 and stops (I'll repost the news).

We love the boat. We just went from Beaufort,SC to Harbor Town in Hilton Head and back on 3/4 tank of gas (about 50 miles). It was a blast. I hope I didn't injure it too bad.

 

[Lazy Daze]

The tan wire is the sender (gauge). The brown/blue wire is the sensor (alarm) - although, I'm not positive if the 4cyl has the actual alarm, or not (V-6 & V-8 definitely do). If you get the alarm when the key is first turned on, then you do.

 

[ZZ13]

It stuck at 120 no matter what, I think. I never really let it cool to room temp yet. I'll pull it out of the garage tomorrow and run the ear muffs and see if it works its way up to 120 and stops (I'll repost the news).

We love the boat. We just went from Beaufort,SC to Harbor Town in Hilton Head and back on 3/4 tank of gas (about 50 miles). It was a blast. I hope I didn't injure it too bad.

Finally put the muffs on today and ran it from cold (75 degrees) for plenty long to get it up to temp. Gauge creeped up just a little bit (just over the 100 mark at the bottom) and stopped. Stayed there the whole time I ran the engine (10-15 minutes). T-stat housing and sender connection point were cool to the touch. Pretty sure now the t-stat went bad and is stuck open. Wow, they don't seem too sturdy if some little tiny sand grains that fit through the little water inlet holes knocked it out after only being in there for a year (unless its just coincidence is just an unrelated infant mortality). Oh well. Going to take it out for a short ride tomorrow and low speeds and then replace the thermostat after the holiday.

 

[Gunn]

Finally put the muffs on today and ran it from cold (75 degrees) for plenty long to get it up to temp. Gauge creeped up just a little bit (just over the 100 mark at the bottom) and stopped. Stayed there the whole time I ran the engine (10-15 minutes). T-stat housing and sender connection point were cool to the touch. quote]

Since the gauge is moving, I'm betting the sender is fine. The thermostat is a pretty simple, durable, spring-loaded device. When you take the housing off, you'll probably find sand there. You will probably be able to just rinse it clean and all will be good.

If you keep your hand on the hose that is on the thermostat housing, and it feels cool the whole time, then the it is probably letting cool water through. Normally, there would be no flow until the T-stat opens and then the hose would suddently get warm. This goes along with what you were saying about the housing being cool the whole time.

Let us know what you find.

Tom

 

[ZZ13]

Finally put the muffs on today and ran it from cold (75 degrees) for plenty long to get it up to temp. Gauge creeped up just a little bit (just over the 100 mark at the bottom) and stopped. Stayed there the whole time I ran the engine (10-15 minutes). T-stat housing and sender connection point were cool to the touch. quote]

Since the gauge is moving, I'm betting the sender is fine. The thermostat is a pretty simple, durable, spring-loaded device. When you take the housing off, you'll probably find sand there. You will probably be able to just rinse it clean and all will be good.

If you keep your hand on the hose that is on the thermostat housing, and it feels cool the whole time, then the it is probably letting cool water through. Normally, there would be no flow until the T-stat opens and then the hose would suddently get warm. This goes along with what you were saying about the housing being cool the whole time.

Let us know what you find.

Tom

You were right on. I found two grains of sand holding it about 1/8" open. I plucked them out and it full closed. All is well now.

 

[Gunn]

Glad to hear you got it fixed!

Tom

 

[mvoellinger]

I had a piece of metal lodge itself in my thermostat last summer with the same symptoms. It would run cold at idle, and would get up to almost normal when running it hard. As soon as I got off of plane, it would drop down again. When I pulled the thermostat out, there was something that looked like a rusty fish hook jammed into it. It was less than 40 hours old, so it was either something I sucked up that got passed the impeller, or a piece of wire from inside a hose.