Coolant valve broke / engine overheat

[BoomerBob]

Now you've got me leaning toward the MX again. I tried ordering one but it won't let you add it to your cart unless you select a"programming option" for certain vehicles and of course our 4Runnners aren't on the list.

So it seems the only way to order one it to select a different vehicle then I assume I have to remove the programming that it would come with and program for 4Runner. Seems like a royal pain.

*** EDIT - I see now I can do a factory reset so I think I'll order the MX. Hope it's the right choice.

*** EDIT EDIT - Went to order and the MX is $10 more. I swear they were all the same price yesterday when I looked at them. Anyone know?

OKay, went ahead and ordered the MX. I guess I just didn't notice the price difference but with shipping and all it's just under $100. I really like this for the custom alarms you can set for temps etc. Should be worth the money.

There are no wrong choices. If you have a pre-99 then you just won't have that option on the trans temp. If it's something you feel is important to have; you can always get a separate gauge for that if the pre-99's have a trans temp sensor or a way to install one.

My personal favorite gauges are the coolant temp, intake temp, Instant MPG, average MPG, and MPH. With the alarms set on the coolant and trans temp (now that I know where the upper norms are) I can feel more confident in having time to shut it down if something goes wrong under the hood when I'm not looking at the gauges. The intake temp give the actual outside temp when you first start the rig but then so does the coolant temp. The MPH is a couple of MPH different than my dash gauge and more accurate when compared to NAV readings.

At some point I'm going to get one of these for my old 99 Mustang GT. It won't have as many options as the T4R but it will still be worth it.

Note: For those who do have to change the trans temp code; it's a little awkward until you get the feel for how it wants you to work it. Kinda like getting used to the computer mouse. Before you know it you're doing it by second nature like typing.

FWIW: I too struggled with which one to get. I even ordered the EM first then asked them to cancel it so I could order the MX. I guess I wasn't confident because I had no experience with them at all. Now that I do; it's a no-brainer to get the one that can do a bit more... just in case. One of the hardest things to do at first was deciding which gauges I wanted on the first page which is mostly what I'll be looking at. Probably a good idea to write down which gauges you want for each page and in what order so you can more easily set them up that way. With 7 pages you will quickly run out of things you want to set up. A lot of it is more info than I care to see. TMI. I found that 6 items per page worked best for me. The top two (1 and 2) are in larger text than the bottom 4. With 8 items they are the same size text.

 

[redhot]

There are no wrong choices. If you have a pre-99 then you just won't have that option on the trans temp. If it's something you feel is important to have; you can always get a separate gauge for that if the pre-99's have a trans temp sensor or a way to install one.

My personal favorite gauges are the coolant temp, intake temp, Instant MPG, average MPG, and MPH. With the alarms set on the coolant and trans temp (now that I know where the upper norms are) I can feel more confident in having time to shut it down if something goes wrong under the hood when I'm not looking at the gauges. The intake temp give the actual outside temp when you first start the rig but then so does the coolant temp. The MPH is a couple of MPH different than my dash gauge and more accurate when compared to NAV readings.

At some point I'm going to get one of these for my old 99 Mustang GT. It won't have as many options as the T4R but it will still be worth it.

Note: For those who do have to change the trans temp code; it's a little awkward until you get the feel for how it wants you to work it. Kinda like getting used to the computer mouse. Before you know it you're doing it by second nature like typing.

FWIW: I too struggled with which one to get. I even ordered the EM first then asked them to cancel it so I could order the MX. I guess I wasn't confident because I had no experience with them at all. Now that I do; it's a no-brainer to get the one that can do a bit more... just in case. One of the hardest things to do at first was deciding which gauges I wanted on the first page which is mostly what I'll be looking at. Probably a good idea to write down which gauges you want for each page and in what order so you can more easily set them up that way. With 7 pages you will quickly run out of things you want to set up. A lot of it is more info than I care to see. TMI. I found that 6 items per page worked best for me. The top two (1 and 2) are in larger text than the bottom 4. With 8 items they are the same size text.

Thanks for all the info! Yeah I'm going to look into some way to do trans temp monitor. I take my 4Runner on 1000 mile trips straight through only stopping for gas and restroom. This is like 14 to 15 hours of driving and I know the transmission gets hot especially when going up long steep grades etc. Would be real nice to be able to monitor the temperature to know where it's at. I wish the 97 had this so the Ultragauge could handle it all but oh well. I'll start researching how to do it unless anyone here knows?

 

[thegipper]

You can buy an aftermarket tranny temp gauge. You would mount the sensor on the tranny pan or inline on the send line that goes to the radiator (where most people install it). I've had mixed results with glowshift gauges but others haven't had any issues. I believe autometer also makes good gauges but cost a bit more.

 

[rexassian]

Update to my original problem, new valve is in, I took it wheeling today, had no issues with heat (it was 90+ outside) nor with any head warpage.

So first what I did was bypass the old valve with a 4" long 3/8" MIP brass pipe from whole despot and flushed the fluid. That looked fairly clean which makes sense since the PO did the water pump and timing belt about 10k miles ago. I got the engine up to temp (about 190) several times and burped the fluid and the drained, just like Tim's video.

I then swapped in the new valve but I dropped the mount by about an inch. I have a 1.5" body lift so I'm guessing that plus wheeling caused more stress on the old part where the engine hose comes into the valve. I just used a basic flat bracket and a stainless screw and lock nut to attach the bracket to the valve first, be sure to bend the tab out of the way. Then attached the whole thing to the firewall using the existing bolt.

See picture links below, everything is running great, I drove an hour to go wheel, idled and wheeled for about 3 hours, then drove back home. Thanks to endive for all the help.

BTW, I'm cheap, so I got a basic Bluetooth obd2 dongle and set up an alarm on torque app to keep a closer eye on the coolant temps. The scan gauge sounds nice but I don't need that and don't need the additional features. My runner is manual transmission so I don't have to monitor trans temps.

bypass pic
bracket pic
bend tab out of the way
all our back together