Temp sensor issue

[cw4Haskins]

New here. Thanks for adding me. I am trying to find out if anyone else has had this happen. My wife has a 1998 Tacoma, 4cyl, 4x4 5 speed with 102k miles. It sat for a year or two unused and when she finally started it again, the temp gauge pegs out after running for 2 minutes. Bought a laser temp unit to check actual temp after 2,minutes running and block reads 170 to 180 at hottest. Any ideas as to why the gauge would peg so quickly? It goes from cold to pegged out all at once (not slowly creeping up). Thanks for the help/experiences.

Dave

 

[skeezix]

It's either the sender unit or the gauge itself. If you have a multimeter you could test the sender unit's resistance when the engine is cold and during the warm-up. If the resistance suddenly jumps, replace the sender. Otherwise it is the gauge. I don't recall a gauge ever needing to be replaced in my 60 years of cars and trucks.