hey all, I'm having a lil problem... in the mornings, my car takes forever to warm up....when driving around normal or hard...the temp gauge always stays "cool"...about a quarter of a quater needle. I've changed my thermostat and coolant temp switch but to no avail. When at idle for long periods of time or the weather is a lil bit warmer...the needle does go up to around a quarter way but then quickly drops back down again when i drive. I am also running rich, with black smoke out the exhaust everytime i punch it. My mechanic was saying that the ecu is probablly in open loop mode where it runs on a specific fuel program to try and warm the motor, thats why i'm running rich. ??? any idea's anyone? thanx

 

i had this prob with my EX too,
did you alter ur ignition timing or turn ur distributor at all?
the ECU retards ignition timing at idle which is probably why you are running rich (which heats), then when you go it cools off.
u also might want to check the sending unit (located under the distributor)
i had that prob for a while, and turns out my timing was off so i did that, replaced spark plugs -- problems solved.

my suggestions are

1 - check sending unit under distributor
2 - check ignition timing
3 - if those don't work, do a complete flush of the cooling system, you might have something blocking flow, then fill up with new coolant.

 

hmm, well i have played around with my ignition timing alot in the past and i recently just changed out the distributer but haven't noticed the car running so rich till now. running cool yes...it has always ran cool but sorta ignored it. My current timing is at 17 degrees. I was also figuring it could be the sending unit but my temp needle does fluctuate so i ruled out that one. however, changing it like u said won't hurt and hopefully will solve my problem the only other thing left to do is change out my plugs and flush the system. thanx

 

no prob