I live in a cold place but usually when the car gets warmed up the hot/cold gauge sits right where its suppose to. I am not running anything fancy.
Just H/I/E setup? could there be any reason why the gauge says the car is running abnormally cold suddenly?

Just wondering if anybody else had the problem and if it is something serious. If there has already been a thread on this. Just post the link.

Thanks for your time guys!

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bad thermostat is first guess.

How low is the needle reading? 9 o'clock? 7?

 

is it runnig cold at all times.......does it ever warm up and get to the middle

 

takes longer then usual in abnormally cold weather.

I could warm my car up, and still drive and my car still hasn't reached the position it should be

 

it definately sounds like your thermostat is stuck open

 

as long as it stays above 160F, imo you should be good.. are you looking at the needle or a datalogger or gauge

 

chances are it can also be the needle that's frozen or really cold and takes forever to move.

does the car run like its still cold and just started up for awhile after start up?

 

+1 on the stuck open thermostat. In a previous car i drove about 150 miles in the winter and the gauge never came off cold. It was a bad thermostat.

 

^ i love ur avatar, is that an actual shot of it???

 

Well, heat is coming from the engine combustion, and dissipated to the block by the engine sleeves and spark plugs, then cooled by the liquid coolant flowing through the radiator. If it's running cool, one of those three isn't right.

Poor combustion can be caused by running too rich, or loss of compression due to a valve not seating or bad piston rings. if it was a timing issue, codes would be thrown. Maybe do a compression check ($30 for the tester at Autozone), but I don't think this is the likely problem.

Have you changed spark plugs recently? A colder spark plug dissipates heat quicker and will cause the engine to run colder. What number plug are you running?

Stuck thermostat would be the first thing I look at. They are easy to replace, and easy to check. if you remove yours, put it in water on the stove and heat the water. A cooking thermometer can be used to check the water temperature. It should open at 180 F or a little sooner. If you have a Killerglass tube, it's even easier. Just look and see if coolant is flowing to the radiator while the engine is cold. If the thermastat tests good, either the needle or temperature sensor may be bad. I can try and find the procedures for testing the sensor, most just need a multimeter to test.

Can you answer a few questions? it would really help figure it out. 1) Are you getting any codes. 2) Were the spark plugs replaced recently 3) Does it stay cold or just take longer to warm up?