I have a 1996 4X4 club cab short bed3/4 heavy duty ramwith a 5.9 L engine. It has 120,893 miles on it but the engine only has 24,056 on it.

The problem is that I cannot run it with the AC on because it heats up, it does not overheat, it just gets alittle higher in the operating heat temp then I care for. It also does this when I do any towing. It also had the same problem with the old engine too.

Now my question is could I get the engine to run cooler by swithching the radiator and tranny cooler to a single unit and mounting a electric fan as a pusher in the front, and also change the fan clutch to a bigger one and upgrade my fan, and also change my thermostat from a 195 to a 160?

Would this do the trick? Or is there some other options?

Also would it benefit from mounting an oil cooling system too?

Thanks...........Bubba

 

for t-stat i wouldent go any lower than 180, lots have gone to 180 with good luck

 

I've been fighting the same problem with my '96. 5.9, 1500. Replaced the 195 deg themostat with two different 180 deg units (Napa & Stant). Radiator was flushed twice & flow tested, fan clutch was replaced with one that is very stiff when hot.
The radiator shop has an infra-red device for measuring temperature. With my gage reading 220 the temperature at the input to the radiator was 180 while the output was reading 110 deg. Ordered a temp. sensor from NAPA (it's the one under the alternator on the passanger side of the thermostat housing) not much difference. Using a resistor dek-a-box, checked the gage : 985 ohms = 130 deg F. 170 ohms = 200 deg F. 65 ohms = 260 deg F.I attemped to calibrate the gage by inserting a 33 ohm resistor in series with the temp sensor. Monday I'll visit the radiator shop & verify that the input to the radiator is 180 deg F with my gage reading the same.
By the way I ordered an external fan from Summit last wednesday which hasn't arrived.

 

Me too, I began having this same hotissue last summer, but it has gotten worse this summer. Mines a 96 1500 2wd. Its especially noticeable while running the a/c & when towing. When the temp goes up over half I also get some pinging upon acceleration, but the funny thing is the temp reading seems to go down some when slowing down from highway speeds. I've been running a 160 stat for several years now & it never was an issue. I changed it out to a 195 & it just got hot faster soI changed it back to the 160.
Here's what I've done trying to correct it;
1-New radiator &hoses...no difference
2-Separated the tranny cooler from the radiator...no difference
3-Replaced the temp sending unit...no difference
4-Removed the cat..discovered it was hollow, put it back on with a Fastman sim..no difference
5-Replaced the muffler, ( had some cat material stuck inside)....no difference
6-New fan clutch(from NAPA)...no difference
Granted our temps have been 110 to 117 lately, but thats typical here in AZ& this only began in the last year.
I bought this truck new in 96 and have a few mods that have never caused any problems like this until last year.
mods are;
1- M-1 intake( had the factory machining ridges polished out before installing)
2-polished throttle body
3-Three inch singleexhaust from the cat back (had some cheap headers on, but they kept leaking, so I put back on the factory exhaustmanifolds)
4-Mopar performance computer
5-K & N air filter
6- changed rear from 3:55 to 4:10 suregrip.

I tried putting back the factory ECM, but it ran rough & the check engine engine light came on, soI think it went south.

So now I'm stuck not sure what to do next, thought of new water pump, but if I do that I'd like to go deeper & replace timing chain & advance the timing a little, but then with this issue maybe I should tear it down & do a rebuild.
If anyone has come up with an answer to this issue(I've notice several members here posting with this same problem) please let us know if you have solved it.