truck takes forever to warm up should i be worried ?

[strobed04runner]

ok so i had to get a new motor at 114,000 miles. got one with 46,000 miles on her. well its been about 2 weeks since i got the motor in. got a full synthetic oil change done too after 500 miles. well last winter when i would start my truck it would be almost warm in about 8 minutes. with this new motor ill let it sit for ten minutes and then drive about 20 minutes home from work and its not even warm yet. its not like its really cold yet either (about 27 degrees out) check engine light came on the other day, the code said it was a coolant sensor. should i be worried or does anybody elses truck do this too. sorry its so long lol thanks for your help.

 

[amt006]

Did you make sure you had enough antifreeze? I know with cars that I had in the past If you were really low on antifreeze the temp wouldn't get read and no heat. The other possibility is your thermostat is stuck open and this would also cause the truck to take a really long time to heat up during cold weather. But my bet is low antifreeze.


Aaron

 

[eskimochaos]

what happened to the original motor? sounds like some of these V6's are failing prematurely.

It sounds odd that it takes this long to warm up. Does the gauge not move? What about the heat, does it blow hot air after a normal amount of time?

 

[CJ3Flyr]

If the anti-freeze level is correct then I'd put a thermostat in it... It shouldn't take that long to warm.

 

[alaskaman]

what happened to the original motor? sounds like some of these V6's are failing prematurely.

GOOD question:thanks:

 

[scottm]

If it doesn't warm up at the rate it expects, it'll throw a code. My '97 Land Cruiser was sophisticated enough to do that, but was programmed just a little too picky, Toyota had a TSB on the problem.

I suspect you don't have a thermostat, or it's malfunctioning. The thermostat is normally closed until your the coolant gets warm, blocking off the radiator exit so coolant flows through the engine and heater core only. If your radiator is getting warm before the temp gauge comes up, that's a clue. You've had major engine work done, so maybe they put the wrong thermostat in, or put it in upside-down, or it's missing, or it has malfunctioned.

If you're low on anti-freeze you could have air in your heater core, as it's a high point.

 

[strobed04runner]

thanks for the help guys gonna bring it to my mechanic this week. the original motor had a warped block at cylinder 4.

 

[jetboy1975]

I'd bet on the thermostat being siezed (stuck open) or installed incorrectly. Could also have a vapor lock in coolant system. Low coolant level would cause it to heat up quicker if the thermostat worked coorectly so I wouldn't suspect that.

 

[eskimochaos]

thanks for the help guys gonna bring it to my mechanic this week. the original motor had a warped block at cylinder 4.

thats the second warped block.........

 

[Shawk00]

If the anti-freeze level is correct then I'd put a thermostat in it... It shouldn't take that long to warm.

Agreed...
Also, depending on where the motor came from (southern vehicle/engine?) some guys remove the thermostats all together.