I've been the proud owner of an 01 dmax for 2 days now
after reading the posts here about operating temps I started to pay verry close attention to the gauge and here is the question
I drove to work this morning in 17 deg air 10 min idle, 2 miles city , 10 miles highway. the temp gadge showed never higher than 120 deg. after work I covered the rad about 80% with cardbord and drove her home. same temp indication. I did the feel test around the upper rad hose and it feels like 120ish
the fan does seem to be moving the correct amount of air for a cold motor.
so is the thermostat AFU or am I missing a known problem.:confused:

I would first use the "cold front" covers to completely cover your grill and the holes in your bumper. Ran mine in -20 last week and stayed nice & warm around 200 or so. Once you are sure the front is covered well, you may want to look at thermostat, etc.

Even with the front grill cover on it takes a good 15 miles to get up to normal operating temp. this is when it is in the teens and twenties. But if the cover is not on, it will take forever to get warm and sometimes even after driving 30 miles to work, it is not all the way to 190.

i plug my truck in and is on a timer to come on about 4.5 hrs before im leaving. I start it up, idle for 5-6 mins, drive 1.5miles to work and by the time im halfway there my temp gauge is moving(above 160)...something dont seem right there..
Edit- Im not running the winter cover either..

I would check your coolant level and thermostat my 01 runs at about 200 degrees without a cold front cover and the temp has been down around 10 degrees and as low as -5 degrees . Have you checked the temp gauge. I normally have to turn the heater down within about 8 miles.

Even here in So Cal I can see a difference in my operating temp when the weather is colder. When it is in the 40's or 50's my temps can run cooler especially if it is raining. I generally never get to full temp coming home from work in the winter

i live in san jose,ca. driving around during the winter it only gets to 160 unless im using it hard and thats only after 25-30 minutes.

update

the truck stayed parked sunday, pluged her in sunday night and drove to work monday morning in 30 deg air temp went to 170. after work I pulled all the cardbord from the rad. and drove home at 170

so did the thermostat fix it's self?:confused:

Watch your coolant level and watch for overflow dripping out the drivers side by tne front. If that happens it's headgasket time. Mine would go cold for short stints in cold weather. Confused the heck out of me. Apparently combustion gasses keep coolant off of the sensor...

But.... always do the simple cheap stuff first. Could be a thermostat.

update

the truck stayed parked sunday, pluged her in sunday night and drove to work monday morning in 30 deg air temp went to 170. after work I pulled all the cardbord from the rad. and drove home at 170

so did the thermostat fix it's self?:confused:
Have you actually gone and driven 20-30 miles yet? What happens then?

It should settle in at 1-2 clicks short of the 210°f mark on the gauge.

Also, what year truck do you have? My 2003 temp gauge starts at 160. On the real cold mornings, the temp gauge is just coming off the 160 mark by the time I get to work and this is after having it plugged in for about 4 hours and letting it idle for about 5 minutes before leaving for work. Work is just over 3 miles away and the speed limit all the way there is 25 mph with several stop signs and lights along the way.

01, dmax/allison with 40,000 on the clock

no problems to report today temp. climed to 180ish @ 30 deg this morning, 65 deg this afternoon.

How far are you driving it to get to the 180 degrees my 01 without the coldfront even in temps down 10 degrees will still settle acouple of notches below the 210 mark I say check those thermostats and the accuracy of your gauge

I'll do that:cool:

here in Ohio, the weather has been mostly frigid lately. I have the edge/attitude and I have my engine temp. displayed on the attitude. This is especially nice because the stock temp gauge starts at 160F. Well, if it is the single digits around here and I start it up late at night after work, my engine temp has been as cold as 16F. I let it idle for about 15 minutes and it usually gets up to about 90F, and I start driving. I made my own cold front and I will run up to 190F in about 10 miles. The thing is, some people on here say they are running at 200F or 205F, is that by looking at the temp gauge or a digital display to be completely accurate? Even in 105 degree summer weather, I have not gotten the engine temp over 198F.

Dan

straitdiesel

thanks for the info, a juice/attitude is going on this truck soon.
tell me adout your straight pipe mod.
I'll be driving to Mid Ohio scc. this summer.

Down to 1F last night. Truck plugged in with a timer 4 hours before I start it up. With grill cover on it takes about 8 miles to get to 185 degrees. I drive around 30 miles to work and it stays pretty much 185-190. With the grill cover on the mileage has improved 1-2 mpg.

Down to 1F last night. Truck plugged in with a timer 4 hours before I start it up. With grill cover on it takes about 8 miles to get to 185 degrees. I drive around 30 miles to work and it stays pretty much 185-190. With the grill cover on the mileage has improved 1-2 mpg.that's about what I'm seeing