Saturday I went out looking for some mud and a great time. I found both but I found troubles too, of course! Btw, I will try to post pics soon since my Ram was top to bottom mud. Anyway, I evidently in my escapades killed my battery and bought a new Optima Red top. Thats well and good. This morning however I noticed the temp gauge rising very slowly. I eased off the gas and have ridden it lightly all day. A few said I could need a new thermo and some say a radiator flush will help. Well, tomorrow I plan on flushing the radiator, changing my oil, and my tranny fluid.. I tried to get in to changing my thermostat but I don't have the right tools. Besides it seems impossible to get in there!! So, my questions are.. when flushing the rad. is there a petcock to drain the fluid? Also, since it does feel kind of bogged down still what other sorts of maint. would you guys recommend?? I'd like to get her running like before again but I know it'll take the right kinds of tlc..

Thanks,

 

check your air filter. Your distrubiter (SP?) cap could have some mud and water in it. Check your spark plug wires as well, and if you haven't done so pick up some dielectric grease and put some on your plugs. Change your rear end fluids and your transfer case fluid.

 

is your rad pluged full of mud? if you were muddin the fins can plug up not letting air through and cause it to heat up if so get a pressure washer in there

 

not sure about your 94, but my 01 has a drain in the radiator on drivers side. its a sort of odd plug where you turn it left about 1/4 or 1/2 and then pull outwards. it comes out about 1/4 inch. and/or you can remove lower rad hose on passenger side. also, i have drain plugs in the block on each side tucked in behind the motor mounts. there is a lot of fluid in the block. one of mine came out easy, but one needed vice grips to get it out. don't forget to flush the heater core both ways. green antifreeze is deadly toxic so don't let the pets get into it.

i can't really see any reason why mudding would affect t-stat or coolant, but its good to do it every 2 or 3 years.

other things you'll need to do is spray all the mud off the back of the wheels, as it can affect balance. if you've got any mud in radiator or ac or trans cooler - spray that out too. if you drive in water you'll need to change front and rear differential oil regularly as water can get in there too - if it does it will appear milky.

 

Odds are you have the correct tools to change your T-stat but you need to remove several other parts first (A/C compressor, alternator, front mounting bracket, etc...). Some members have removed the tab (front)on ther T-stat housing to allow for removal without having to take all the extra parts off, but thats left to user preference.

Additional Maintinance after mudding:
Remove rearbrake drumand rinse parts
Remove any mud/rocks that collected on top of skid plates
You may want to remove the inspection cover from the AT to clean out any mud that got inside
+ everything that was reccomended before me

Welcome to the world of mudding 1 weeks worth of work for one afternoon of fun

 

Ryan is probably right if it just started happening after you were out in the mud. Your radiator, or AC is full of mud so air can't flow through to cool it. Check that out.

 

one thing I have found works like a champ is take a sprinkler...I use the kind that spins...and put it under your vehicle....it cleans all the mud out after about 30 minutes (matters how fast you have the sprinkler going)

 

Never really thought of that. gonna have to do that next time i go muddin.

 

lol I do that. But beware that you might be a redneck if you use this method

 

you might be a redneck if ur sitting in a chair with a beer watching the sprinkler.... btw thats a great idea why didnt i ever think of that lol