Took my '12 Citadel Hemi on vacation for Thanksgiving up in the mountains in North West North Carolina, near Boone, if anyone is familiar with the area. The climb up the mountain, on paved roads, is pretty steep. The lodge was at something like 5,000 ft but not sure what the elevation was at the point where we started up the switchbacks for probably no more than a 1,700 ft climb stretched out over two miles. The nearby town of Boone is at 3,300 ft elevation.

Anyway, the D was having trouble downshifting on the slow crawl up the mountain and I noticed the water temp gauge was getting pretty hot. So I pulled the tranny down to 2 and held it there the rest of the climb (not going over 20 MPH). The temp went down a bit but not back to normal.

In subsequent climbs over the next couple of days I made sure to pull it down to 2 before the climb began and each time the temp rose but not by much. And this was in 40 degree weather, not summer time. One time, I also thought to use the tow mode switch and that seemed to provide additional help (or maybe that was my imagination).

Anyway, does it seem odd to you guys that the D would overheat in this type of situation? The load was 5 people and luggage for 4 days so not that much stuff, no trailer or roof loads. Thoughts?

By the way, the other family that was with us was driving a Lexus RX350 front wheel drive and it had no issues at all with the climb.

 

What do you define as 'pretty hot'? Did you go into the EVIC-Vehicle Info section to see what the actual temps were?

 

First poster brings up a good point, was it abnormally high or just at the upper end of normal and you happened to notice it? I do love the EVIC data that gives me way more engine data than anything else I have ever owned.

If it is running hot, I would question if the thermostat, a fan, or a fan relay could be faulty. These vehicles are probably tested to pull a trailer through a desert without overheating. Surely the heat generated by what you describe should be kept under control by the cooling system if operating correctly.

Steve

 

Yeah, that's why I'm concerned. You would think towing a trailer would be much more demanding than climbing a hill. I did not check the EVIC unfortunately. Normally, the truck runs at a temp just below the half way mark on the gauge. It was showing a temp just north of 3/4 of the way up the gauge on the mountain. Pretty hot.