I just bought a 2008 Ranger with the 2.3 and it seems to take longer than other vehicles I've had before I start getting heat inside the cab and the temperature gauge seems to take longer to get up to it's typical location as well which is just left of straight up.


I'm thinking of replacing the thermostat but just figured I'd ask how your truck seems to heat up before doing so.


My truck has 124K miles on it and don't know if it's the original thermostat or not.

 

Depending on outside temperature, warmup for any engine is 5 to 8 minutes, but you should feel heat from the heater core within 2-3 minutes, luke warm but should start to get warmer fast at that point, especially if driving, any engine load causes faster warm up

2008 2.3l Duratec uses lower radiator hose thermostat

After cold start open the hood and feel upper radiator hose, should be cold to the touch
Wait 2 minutes then feel it again, it should still be cold to the touch, NOT warming up with the engine, it it is then thermostat is partially open, allowing coolant to flow thru radiator which causes much longer warm up time

Above is based on you adding the "gauge" also shows slow warmup.

2.3l Duratec engine doesn't have an ECT(engine coolant temp) sensor like other Ranger engines.
It uses a CHT(cylinder head temp) sensor.

If gauge was warming up the same but not cab heat then you would look at heater hose or heater core issues

 

I've seen a lot of thermostats on these 2.3L Duratecs crack the fingers that hold the metal thermostat in place which then causes the engine to not warm up properly.

But, as for how long it takes it to warm up, if I turn out of my house and drive 35-40 mph for approximately .5 - .75 mile I'm already hitting 165*-175* on my ScanGauge-2
but that was during the summer which never gets much above 72* here. Not sure how long it takes during the winter though.

 

I have an 03 with the original electronic thermostat and the engine warms up quite quickly. My temp gauge reads midpoint when fully warmed up. I had to have the valve that shuts off coolant if using a/c replaced due it failing. If your stat is old , replacing that along with flushing system would probably make a difference.