you are the man! Without even mentioning it myself...you mentioning checking ohms to determine temperature etc and i stumbled across your "temp sensors" page as well as another suzuki forum that where someone with my same vehcile had a similar problem..it idles perfect at 800 and everyrhing like his..but it made sense to me.
My linear gauge for engine temperature never goes past the bottom slit near C. I thought at first because of the other lights being out that it could be a cluster or fuse but we have determined it is not. Plus when i get the car warmed up for sure it goes from below C to slightly above C.
not to mention last winter when i got the car before i did my.fixes to it..i noticed white sludge on the top of the oil dipstick and thought "oh god..head gasket" but it turns out the car wasnt getting to operating temperature in winter and the (old..since changed) oil was full of water and fuel that didnt evaporate off.
I thought to myself (assumed..sigh) that ill just check the thermostat after summer because maybe the PO was overheating so he either put a low temp (160..or none at all) thermostat in it. Point being tho thst i planned on addressing..and will need to address..thermostat and likely ECT before winter. All levels remain high and no leaks..50/50 mix isnt dirty or have bubbles in it. No overheating issues and radiator/pump is flowing water but i dont think its hitting opersting temperature or at least is "too cool" .. Which everyone ive bounced this off of says its no prohlem at all and surely better than too hot but comes with its own issues..
From what ive deduced reading..improper operating temperature can cause a rich condition as well. I checked the o2 sensor and its been replaced fairly recently: the pigtail on it was brand new looking and even scotch locked all nicely onto the connector with what looks like new zipties. Id guess its been changed within the last 3 years. Plus its not behaving like a bad o2 sensor would ..i just havr the white tip plugs and fuel smelling exhaust indicating rich condition.
I even read that if it never goes above 158 then it stays in warmup node and Never goes to closed loop which would make perfect sense of the cold conditions i have as well as the gauge and the winter prohlems as well as the fuel smelling exhaust..just everyrhing makes sense if there is too low a thermostat or none at all in there..or faulty ECT?
What im.guessing now..and.i need tools to.confirm..is that the ECT may have been bad before..it may have been overheating on PO so he (by the look of the blue gasket maker around thermostat..ugh) replaced thermostat and put in an o2 sensor trying to fix problem . what i think based on all of this is that he may have missed a faulty ECT causing the whole thing and then "fixed symptoms instead of disease" if you will by replacing thermostat with a lower rated one or none at all..which of course leads to further issues.
What im going to do FIRST THING so i can do what u have told me..is get myself a DMM and an IR thermometer. I can also check my cat with that and ..with ur manuals i can read ohms withour thermometer to see what the ECU is saying. 2 weeks ago..this would be rocket science to me but now i am reading and getting deep into your math for ohms to temperature and voltage read by ECU etc.. And my god man ur a genius on this car and a godsend to me.
Im getting in there this weekend to check ECU caps and ordering #18 GE bulb but i am.now at a point where i need some more tools to diagnose this right But thanks to you i have the knowledge and have a fundamental.understanding of the car itself which i could never repay you for.
Only one question (besides the update and other symptoms i didnt mention but once i made sense of what u were asking it clicked for me). What is OEM (or recommended) thermostat? Once i get in there and look ofc..when I looked it up i got conflicting info:on my 1993 8v tbi does it take the 180* or the 195* (I saw rated 192?) thermostat? also which gasket does it take? I read that auto parts stores will gige u both LOL is it The 1 mm or the 4-5mm rubber o ring?
Thanks to your help i am.going to save hours upon hours of labor and have myself a new tool set to work on this myself! (dad told me.for every hour of labor saved you can buy 4 tools..rip to him I lost him too soon before he could teach me more and wished id listened more when younger.)
Im sharp but still need to be exposed to the material..so i thank you so much again or answering my directly and in detail while I also cross reference your manuals.
I have the answers and am.on the right track i am sure of it. Im buying the tools this weekend and will update you again after i have performed the tests and/or replaced snything found faulty
P.S. it still has the ORIGINAL FUEL FILTER on it. New muffler..new shocks and struts all.on rear end and they never once replaced the fuel filter. How this car ran when i got it..ill never know. I am fixing that this weekend. Also i noticed that the EVAP CANISTER is bypassed and has a hose with a cap.on the end coming up beside it (im guessing to preserve the vacuum for the VSV? i havent read up on that YET but it almost seems like my a/c is bypassed and i need to look again to see if it is or not) i have a slight belt squeak on startup that isnt any bearings or pulleys..due to a seal.in power steering pump being broken and dripping ATF from p/s onto belt. Doesnt affect vehicle at all and im losing 1 reservoir every 6 months so im putting that one off until i have the parts car.
Also per your site and instructions i am changing multiple hoses- the return hose for the fuel pressure regulator is noticeably gritty and old..
I may have fibbed so only one more question- do i need fuel system depressurized to replace FUEL REGULATOR RETURN HOSE? I found instructions on how to from you and will be doing that while fixing fuel filter ofc)
Again i cannot thank yoy enough for all of the help. Im long winded and apologize for all of this text but I want to relay as much into as possible cuz it being internet etc.
At this point tho until i do the tests..relaying anymore info is pointless so I'll get in there and come back hopefully with good news but if i run into anything elae and cant find it on here then I'll ask for sure.
My linear gauge for engine temperature never goes past the bottom slit near C. I thought at first because of the other lights being out that it could be a cluster or fuse but we have determined it is not. Plus when i get the car warmed up for sure it goes from below C to slightly above C.
not to mention last winter when i got the car before i did my.fixes to it..i noticed white sludge on the top of the oil dipstick and thought "oh god..head gasket" but it turns out the car wasnt getting to operating temperature in winter and the (old..since changed) oil was full of water and fuel that didnt evaporate off.
I thought to myself (assumed..sigh) that ill just check the thermostat after summer because maybe the PO was overheating so he either put a low temp (160..or none at all) thermostat in it. Point being tho thst i planned on addressing..and will need to address..thermostat and likely ECT before winter. All levels remain high and no leaks..50/50 mix isnt dirty or have bubbles in it. No overheating issues and radiator/pump is flowing water but i dont think its hitting opersting temperature or at least is "too cool" .. Which everyone ive bounced this off of says its no prohlem at all and surely better than too hot but comes with its own issues..
From what ive deduced reading..improper operating temperature can cause a rich condition as well. I checked the o2 sensor and its been replaced fairly recently: the pigtail on it was brand new looking and even scotch locked all nicely onto the connector with what looks like new zipties. Id guess its been changed within the last 3 years. Plus its not behaving like a bad o2 sensor would ..i just havr the white tip plugs and fuel smelling exhaust indicating rich condition.
I even read that if it never goes above 158 then it stays in warmup node and Never goes to closed loop which would make perfect sense of the cold conditions i have as well as the gauge and the winter prohlems as well as the fuel smelling exhaust..just everyrhing makes sense if there is too low a thermostat or none at all in there..or faulty ECT?
What im.guessing now..and.i need tools to.confirm..is that the ECT may have been bad before..it may have been overheating on PO so he (by the look of the blue gasket maker around thermostat..ugh) replaced thermostat and put in an o2 sensor trying to fix problem . what i think based on all of this is that he may have missed a faulty ECT causing the whole thing and then "fixed symptoms instead of disease" if you will by replacing thermostat with a lower rated one or none at all..which of course leads to further issues.
What im going to do FIRST THING so i can do what u have told me..is get myself a DMM and an IR thermometer. I can also check my cat with that and ..with ur manuals i can read ohms withour thermometer to see what the ECU is saying. 2 weeks ago..this would be rocket science to me but now i am reading and getting deep into your math for ohms to temperature and voltage read by ECU etc.. And my god man ur a genius on this car and a godsend to me.
Im getting in there this weekend to check ECU caps and ordering #18 GE bulb but i am.now at a point where i need some more tools to diagnose this right But thanks to you i have the knowledge and have a fundamental.understanding of the car itself which i could never repay you for.
Only one question (besides the update and other symptoms i didnt mention but once i made sense of what u were asking it clicked for me). What is OEM (or recommended) thermostat? Once i get in there and look ofc..when I looked it up i got conflicting info:on my 1993 8v tbi does it take the 180* or the 195* (I saw rated 192?) thermostat? also which gasket does it take? I read that auto parts stores will gige u both LOL is it The 1 mm or the 4-5mm rubber o ring?
Thanks to your help i am.going to save hours upon hours of labor and have myself a new tool set to work on this myself! (dad told me.for every hour of labor saved you can buy 4 tools..rip to him I lost him too soon before he could teach me more and wished id listened more when younger.)
Im sharp but still need to be exposed to the material..so i thank you so much again or answering my directly and in detail while I also cross reference your manuals.
I have the answers and am.on the right track i am sure of it. Im buying the tools this weekend and will update you again after i have performed the tests and/or replaced snything found faulty
P.S. it still has the ORIGINAL FUEL FILTER on it. New muffler..new shocks and struts all.on rear end and they never once replaced the fuel filter. How this car ran when i got it..ill never know. I am fixing that this weekend. Also i noticed that the EVAP CANISTER is bypassed and has a hose with a cap.on the end coming up beside it (im guessing to preserve the vacuum for the VSV? i havent read up on that YET but it almost seems like my a/c is bypassed and i need to look again to see if it is or not) i have a slight belt squeak on startup that isnt any bearings or pulleys..due to a seal.in power steering pump being broken and dripping ATF from p/s onto belt. Doesnt affect vehicle at all and im losing 1 reservoir every 6 months so im putting that one off until i have the parts car.
Also per your site and instructions i am changing multiple hoses- the return hose for the fuel pressure regulator is noticeably gritty and old..
I may have fibbed so only one more question- do i need fuel system depressurized to replace FUEL REGULATOR RETURN HOSE? I found instructions on how to from you and will be doing that while fixing fuel filter ofc)
Again i cannot thank yoy enough for all of the help. Im long winded and apologize for all of this text but I want to relay as much into as possible cuz it being internet etc.
At this point tho until i do the tests..relaying anymore info is pointless so I'll get in there and come back hopefully with good news but if i run into anything elae and cant find it on here then I'll ask for sure.