Hey guys got a question for ya... I tried searching and found some info but nothing relating to my issue so here goes...

I have a 2003 Ram 1500 4x4 with a 5.9l

I'm having an odd issue of overheating, my truck will not overheat while driving around town or towing etc. etc.

But it does get very close to overheating if I sit at a drive through or in a parking lot for a while after doing a lot of driving around town in the summer heat.

The other scenario that heats it up is if I drive on a fairly steep dirt road up in the mountains in 2wd or 4 high but the problem goes away entirely if I put it into 4 low. (yes I understand the motor is not working as hard in 4 low...) However I'm pretty sure that this truck "should" be able to drive up a nicely groomed yet steep hill in the mountains without needing 4 low (and no I'm not trying to hotrod up the hill, just driving nice and easy).

Winter; no probs at all

I'm not sure what temp it's getting to but the needle climbs all the way up to near the red line.

FYI: last summer I had some of the same issues and did a flush and checked thermostat and was good to go.

And one other question, I'm pretty sure my truck has a tranny cooler (second small radiator up front) but did the 2003 come with that?

Thanks for any help, just wondering if there is any kind of common problem out there??

 

well, not overheating while driving around, but overheating while sitting in a driveway is normal. the best thing you can do for an overheating car is in fact drive it around a bit with the heater on. buy a $5 thermostat, throw it in, and it'll probably be fixed man. if not, it was only $5...but it'll probably fix it.

 

I definitely plan to replace the stat, but I used to be able to drive through heavy traffic in the middle of hot summer and then idle in a drivethrough or parking lot with the wife and kids inside and the AC running, no issues, but now it gets too hot and last summer it did start to boil over once.

 

1st step in troubleshooting any overheat issue is to replace the thermostat, then go from there...

 

Try a new stat..and yes, 03 and up have the tranny cooler

 

Cool thanks guys, I def plan to replace the stat so hopefully that helps. I plan to do a lot of towing up in the mountains this summer (ATV's etc.) so I'm hoping to get the cooling issue under controll and possibly do some cheap mods to increase cooling if anyone has any pointers?

Thanks

 

e-fan and 180 t-stat...

 

If you repalce the stat flush the system at the same time since you will be loosing coolant anyhow when you open it up.

Make sure to follow the flush directions, ie run the defrosters on high while running the flush and rinse cycles.

I also go a step further on really bad cars, once flushed per the instructions I pull the lower radiator hose at the radiator and run water though it.

Oh and when you fill, if you see a air bleeder near the stat housing use it, get the air out of the system.

 

Thanks guys, speaking of e-fan, where exactly do you mount it? I assume you are talking about one of those electric fans you see at the auto parts stores??

 

You replace the clutch fan with the efan.
You may want to see how loooose you're waterpump is.
E fans gonna help out on the towing trips. You can even slap on some extra fans for the oil and tranny rads.