Rembrant Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 OK 460 people... I finally got around to changing out my coolant temperature sender last night. The back story is that when I bought this thing, the temperature gauge barely moved off the bottom...and if/when it did, it didn't move very far. The seller actually gave me a new 185F t-stat with the RV and said that he thought the t-stat that was in it was a colder one that the original owner had installed for towing. This was just an assumption, so that's all I know. While I drove the thing home that day (120 miles) in the winter, he seemed to blow pretty good heat from the vents, so I just assumed that the temp sender was likely getting flakey after 27 years. So I bought an aftermarket sender...the better one of the two available, and installed it last night. I let the thing sit and idle in the driveway for a while and it still barely moved up the gauge. I decided to take it out for a run on the highway, but I have a 10-12 mile drive (at 40-45 mph) from home before I get to the highway, and during that whole time, the temperature only came up to between the N and the O. Once on the highway, the gauge moved a bit more, maybe up into the O a little bit, but that was it on flat ground. It was only when I climbed a couple big hills back to back that the gauge shot up to the middle, and even just a hair beyond the middle, but once I back on to flat ground for a while, the gauge dropped back down to between the N and O as pictured. When I got back home I grabbed my temp gun while it was idling in the driveway, and all I could really reach was the top tank on the radiator, and it was reading 175F. My brother inlaw says it's acting like there's no thermostat in it at all (or the one that IS in it is stuck open). What say the 460 experts? Sounds like I need a thermostat? I was very pleased with myself for having swapped the temp sender without draining the coolant, but it sounds like I now have to drain it anyway...lol. Oh, and this may end up being a really dumb question, but since I have never owned anything with dual rear wheels before, I need to lean on the experts again... Are the valve stems supposed to be hidden on these wheels?>.. Either I have to remove the wheels to check the pressure, or I need to buy a specific pressure gauge that I'm not aware of... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Oh, and this may end up being a really dumb question, but since I have never owned anything with dual rear wheels before, I need to lean on the experts again... Are the valve stems supposed to be hidden on these wheels?>.. Either I have to remove the wheels to check the pressure, or I need to buy a specific pressure gauge that I'm not aware of... Duallies should be 'keyed' and the inner ones usually have an extended valve stem that projects between the 'spokes' of the outer wheel. Not sure about those wheels. Are they stock? Look like soft 8's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Duallies should be 'keyed' and the inner ones usually have an extended valve stem that projects between the 'spokes' of the outer wheel. Not sure about those wheels. Are they stock? Look like soft 8's I thought that's how they were supposed to work... But I can't even check the pressure of the outer wheels, because they have short valve stems pointing inwards. As far as I know they are the stock wheels. Previous owner painted them black because I have pictures of them when they were the factory grey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Duallies should be 'keyed' and the inner ones usually have an extended valve stem that projects between the 'spokes' of the outer wheel. Not sure about those wheels. Are they stock? Look like soft 8's Not sure I'm being clear. There should be a hole and a lug opposite each other near the hub. This way, when back to back, they are set up so the inner valve stem falls where it is able to reach outside. The fronts go on backward, so they don't matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Not sure I'm being clear. There should be a hole and a lug opposite each other near the hub. This way, when back to back, they are set up so the inner valve stem falls where it is able to reach outside. The fronts go on backward, so they don't matter. I've always seen extra long brass valve stems on duallies. Not some janky extensions. I seem to recall you have some kind of nationalistic chain up there that should specialize in this sort of thing? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 Not sure I'm being clear. There should be a hole and a lug opposite each other near the hub. This way, when back to back, they are set up so the inner valve stem falls where it is able to reach outside. The fronts go on backward, so they don't matter. No, you were being clear. I understand how the stem is supposed to stick out for the inner wheel, but where is the valve stem supposed to be for the outer wheel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rembrant Posted June 17, 2020 Author Share Posted June 17, 2020 I seem to recall you have some kind of nationalistic chain up there that should specialize in this sort of thing? 🤔 Haha...Canadian Tire is probably less of a tire shop than Wal-Mart is...lol, but yes they DO sell tires...it's just not their specialty...lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Lewis Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 The way to tell if there is no thermostat (or it's stuck open) is to check the top radiator hose from cold, or look down into the radiator while cold. The heater core is part of a bypass loop from the water pump. It should be fully warmed up before the thermostat begins to open. IF the coolant is flowing across the top of the core when cold, and/or the upper hose gets progressively warmer, you have no thermostat. The thermostat is a modulator, not an on/off switch, but it should not be opening at all until it reaches a threshold level. Gary has posted the resistor values to test the gauges. The values are 22.5 ohms for Cold and 145 ohms Hot. But there's a mid-scale value in the Bullnose EVTM's that might come in handy. I think I have an '87 EVTM and know I have a '96 one, so can look that up for you if needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 I seem to recall you have some kind of nationalistic chain up there that should specialize in this sort of thing? 🤔 Haha...Canadian Tire is probably less of a tire shop than Wal-Mart is...lol, but yes they DO sell tires...it's just not their specialty...lol. Glad you can take the ribbing, Cory. 🙂 Now you have a good explanation for the seemingly useless double sided tire inflators. I would have a truck depot or tire specialist install stems you can actually get to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nothing Special Posted June 17, 2020 Share Posted June 17, 2020 Not sure I'm being clear. There should be a hole and a lug opposite each other near the hub. This way, when back to back, they are set up so the inner valve stem falls where it is able to reach outside. The fronts go on backward, so they don't matter. No, you were being clear. I understand how the stem is supposed to stick out for the inner wheel, but where is the valve stem supposed to be for the outer wheel? On my motorhome there are short valve stems on all of the wheels. They all point towards the dished-out side, so they point out on the front tires and the inside rears and they point in on the outside rears. When I got the motorhome there were "janky extensions" (as Jim called them) on all of the rears. The extensions brought all of the stems outside of the outside wheel so they could be easily accessed. They seemed to work OK, but my tire shop warned me that those usually leak, so I took them off. I have a tire inflator that looks like this. I had to bend the brass tube slightly to get it to work on the rear tires, but one side of the chuck goes on the inside tire's stem and the other side will go on the outside tire's stem. I know you're not supposed to trust the pressure gauge of inflators like this, but this is the only thing I have that reaches the valve stems on the rear tires, so it's all I use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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