Canary in the coal mine for my water pump?

[fourfive]

I'm not concerned in the least bit. I know my truck and I know what my truck runs at coolant-wise. So I notice even the slightest deviations from normal and make note of them. That's all this is — I'm not concerned and I'm not paranoid, I'm simply curious if my water pump might be on its way out and this is the first indication of such.

I understand you are just voicing an observation & while the temp rise may be a small increase, I get that it is a somewhat unusual deviation compared what your 4runner's typical readings are under your usual driving conditions. I'm always curious too what deviations outside of "normal" ranges may indicate. As it is with many pathologies or mechanical issues, when fluctuations are so subtle there usually aren't causation based answers BUT if some of those sublte unexplainable symptoms begin to increase over time & are detected, then sometimes in can be life or 4runner saving & help prevent future episodes. That's why I'm always asking (forum & real life) what kind of symptoms people experienced before a catastrophic event. A common answer I hear is "nothing, everything was normal" but in some of those instances I'm willing to bet it was a collection of minor symptoms. I say all this with the understanding that there can be a fine line between intelligently observing & being a hypochondriac .

 

[StreetCreeper]

I understand you are just voicing an observation & while the temp rise may be a small increase, I get that it is a somewhat unusual deviation compared what your 4runner's typical readings are under your usual driving conditions. I'm always curious too what deviations outside of "normal" ranges may indicate. As it is with many pathologies or mechanical issues, when fluctuations are so subtle there usually aren't causation based answers BUT if some of those sublte unexplainable symptoms begin to increase over time & are detected, then sometimes in can be life or 4runner saving & help prevent future episodes. That's why I'm always asking (forum & real life) what kind of symptoms people experienced before a catastrophic event. A common answer I hear is "nothing, everything was normal" but in some of those instances I'm willing to bet it was a collection of minor symptoms. I say all this with the understanding that there can be a fine line between intelligently observing & being a hypochondriac .

Well said!

 

[4Reak Show]

This makes sense to me, my only thoughts are why now? Perhaps it was just truly random and a mere hiccup. Guess I'll just have to keep watching and see if it continues or not.

Again, just playing along for fun because We all know the 190's is super cool, but perhaps the slight resistance variance I described could be starting to form within said sensor, as one example of "why now". Or if the wiring for example heats up enough to alter the resistance spec of the circuit by a singular ohm theoretically that would then cause the change if it were teetering from one value to the next. Or the electronics within the ECM or how it's communicating with the ScanGauge could be heating up by enough to cause the variance.

This is likely not at all the issue, im just broadening the reality for you. A multitude of possibilities. And you could hunt for days and days and possibly never narrow down a real solution or cause.

But I'll be damned if you aren't even more anal retentive than me, holy smokes!
(Pun intended)

 

[AntleredRuin]

I don't have any real answer to provide, but I will say to keep monitoring the way you do. Stay paranoid.
Just this last week I caught it when my radiator burst. Mine sits around 185, and when it spiked to 195 randomly, I knew something was up. 195 is completely safe, but outside my 'norm'. If I had just left it because it was 'safe', I would have lost all my coolant going 60 on the freeway and potentially hurt my engine. By stopping and checking, I was able to realize this issue, and patch it with some steel weld and get home safely.

But I'll be damned if you aren't even more anal retentive than me, holy smokes!
(Pun intended)

I was scared for a minute because I though the pun was about anal retention...

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[HiluxSurf SSR-G]

My 0.02:

1. The AC is off so coolant isn't circulating (coolant goes into the heater to blend the temp) so there is no "extra heat removal" from the coolant in the rad.

2. Vehicle is not moving so there is no "ram-effect" cooling on the rad.

 

[St Runner]

I think HiluxSurf SSR-G might of nailed it with the coolant blending. Easy to test on idle with the ac on and then off.

 

[giovannie23]

so I had a question
does the temp only go up to 195 when it's shifted in drive while in idle?
or does it get to 195 while transmission in park as well?

 

[StreetCreeper]

Again, just playing along for fun because We all know the 190's is super cool, but perhaps the slight resistance variance I described could be starting to form within said sensor, as one example of "why now". Or if the wiring for example heats up enough to alter the resistance spec of the circuit by a singular ohm theoretically that would then cause the change if it were teetering from one value to the next. Or the electronics within the ECM or how it's communicating with the ScanGauge could be heating up by enough to cause the variance.

This is likely not at all the issue, im just broadening the reality for you. A multitude of possibilities. And you could hunt for days and days and possibly never narrow down a real solution or cause.

But I'll be damned if you aren't even more anal retentive than me, holy smokes!
(Pun intended)

Yeah I'm thinking may just be too soon to garner anything meaningful in terms of what caused it. At this point it could just be an interesting blip on the radar that as you pointed out, might literally be caused by the smallest variances in sensor readings. I'll be monitoring it to see if it delvopes further.

My 0.02:

1. The AC is off so coolant isn't circulating (coolant goes into the heater to blend the temp) so there is no "extra heat removal" from the coolant in the rad.

2. Vehicle is not moving so there is no "ram-effect" cooling on the rad.

The A/C being off was literally the only thing about the situation that was unusually — aside from the increased temp itself. May very well have something to do with this.

so I had a question
does the temp only go up to 195 when it's shifted in drive while in idle?
or does it get to 195 while transmission in park as well?

No the temp only went up to 195* while parked and out of gear just idling. Once I gave it some gas and increased the RPMs to 1000 and the temp dropped 191*. When the RPMs dropped back to 700, the temp rose back to 195*.

 

[LittleCaesar]

How tight did you tighten the belts? Too loose, too tight? The only I ask is that one time I had a drive belt on too tight. Killed the bearing in the alternator four months down the road.

 

[StreetCreeper]

How tight did you tighten the belts? Too loose, too tight? The only I ask is that one time I had a drive belt on too tight. Killed the bearing in the alternator four months down the road.

Felt good to me but that's entirely subjective since I don't have a fancy belt tensioner tool. They seem to flex appropriately and appear to be as tight as the old ones.

I check them every few days when I check the oil and coolant. No odd sounds or squealing noticed either.