Temp Gauge

I was wondering if my engine is running hot enough, i seems it has gone down, but i thought that is was just because it was getting cold. here is a pic of my gauge and normal temp is this were everyone elses is at?? 1999 blazer 4.3
http://home.comcast.net/~davydawg/PB190092.JPG

looks pretty normal to me for a car that has run long enought for the thermostat to open. Especially if it is cold outside.

that is where my blazer runs at

That's exactly where my 98 runs. Actually just brought it to my mechanic's attention because I could swear my old 98 ran one click left of center and the heat was not real warm on the newer one...turns out it was a clogged heater core. He said the thermostat was fine.

My Blazer is a 2000 and it runs a little warmer than that just by a couple notches and has from the day I bought it, never goes over the middle line but comes close if I run it really hard.

That reading is normal.

Turn your heat dial all the way to dead cold and watch the gauge go up a couple of notches.

I wish my 89 model would run that cool . I have a 180 degree thermastat and mine runs half way between 210 and 260 . I am installing a 160 in it soon because it runs higher when pulling a trailer .

A colder stat will not fix that so do some diagnosis.

Have you ever flushed and refilled your system?
Have you changed your rad cap?
Have you checked your timing? (Over advanced timing will cause overheating)

My '89 4.3 will only warm to the first notch which appears to be about 155 or 160. I did a flush and installed a 180 degree thermostat because the old one (195 I believe) made it run at least 220. I don't think the new thermostat is stuck open because it only takes a few minutes to warm up and the heat works excellent. Any ideas?

Your old stat was working properly, it is just your system was flushed out causing it to circulate fine.

I agree with BlazerLT, between 210-260 is like overheating territory. My Blazer never goes above the tick below 210. MRogers, you may some underlying problem that needs addressing or maybe the gauge is messed up. Just my 2cents :)

My 89 as a new radiator and cap the timing is correct at altitude where I live , and with complete tune up and now it has an issue with jumping or surging when accelerator is applied from a dead stop . But if I press slowly until I get in to a diferent gear , it will downshift with full thottle with no hesitation . I discovered a loss of trans fluid ,not external . and I have fluid in the vac line at the intake manifold. Maybe a bad modulator? Thanks Robert

I was wondering if my engine is running hot enough, i seems it has gone down, but i thought that is was just because it was getting cold. here is a pic of my gauge and normal temp is this were everyone elses is at?? 1999 blazer 4.3
http://home.comcast.net/~davydawg/PB190092.JPG


This was where mine WAS at and I put a CarChip EX on it and measured the coolant sensor...it read 177 - 183.4 tops....which means that the car isn't getting up to temp. So I yanked the thermostat with a ac-delco direct replacement and ow it's just one tick under the 210 mark and coolant sensor reads 194 - 197.5 all the time.

While it was warm enough to go into a closed loop, it's still not up-to-minimum operating temperature...188 min - 206 max.

About 160 thermostats...it cost me 6 miles to the gallon on mileage (15 mpg) so I put in a 180 and am getting 21 mpg again.

Yip, at 160, the computer will not go into closed loop and your fuel economy will definitely take a shit.

Especially in colder area where the temp is below freezing.