my engine temperature is only going up a about a quarter on the gauge, i've heard that its bad if the engine is to hot or to cold, what could be the cause of this? a bad thermostat?

 

your sensor may be reading wrong. check the connections, they are located at the front of the motor above the water pump and to the right a little from the t-stat housing.

 

you might need to replace your t-stat it might be stuck open i'd go with that first

 

wouldn't you check connections first....? i would, easier and only takes like all of 2 minutes

 

if it were the connection and it was loose wouldnt the thermostat not work at all?

 

the thremostat is not electronic it opens with temp. or are u talking about the gauge wouldnt work to the op ?. yeas it could still work if the connection is corroded it will change how the sensor ohms and in turn changes the reading.

check connector then change stat.

 

I may be wrong but even if tstat is open it would still warm up it just takes longer, I would look at gauge issues. If you have access to an infrared thermometer you could troubleshoot it that way.

 

i have the same problem on my 91 i just check the connections and replaced the tstat but its still at the 1/4 mark so i just left it alone sence it has no effects and my engine sounds normal

 

I've heard that your motor needs to get up to proper running temp for it to burn the gas efficiently as possible and protect from engine wear, does anyone know if this is true? because if not i will just leave it alone.

 

it needs to be at normal operating temp for good combustion,as far as the oil and wear it is not bad one way or the other.
On newer cars it is even more important to have it at operating temp.

 

well i guess i wont have to worry about it notoriously overheating haha

 

If you are getting around 20 mpg I would not worry about it,mine runs cool but it also getting about 20 mpg and passes ca smog as good as new.

 

ill have to calculate my mpg and see, im not sure as of now. i just bought it and havent really had a chance to find out all the quirks it has yet.