My truck is having some issues that I cannot seem to resolve and would appreciate any answers you guys and girls can throw out there for me to try to eliminate the problem.

When in city driving the temp guage goes up just below the 1/2 mark and will come down back to normal after a couple minutes of stop and go traffic. When driving at highway speeds, the temp goes a tad past the 1/2 mark but will come down, but not where its supposed to be. I had a new waterpump and T stat installed by my local dodge dealer.

I got a hose and rinsed out the radiator to clean it out. I then took a long drive about 40 minutes highway speed and when I parked the truck, the whole radiator below the first three inches was still soaked and the top three inches almost burned my hand. My question. Is it possible there is an obstruction. The whole radiator below the first three inches was ice cold. Am I overlooking something, t stat and water pump are new, maybe bad t stat was put in or put in wrong? I can turn on the heat full blast and it doesnt drop the temp at all. Dealer said they see the guage moving but have no idea what it is. Thats better then lying and saying they cant replicate the problem. Any advice, ideas are welcome and will try them all. Thanks in advance...

 

Hello, more information is needed. What year and model truck do you have? A general guess would be the cooling system is air bound or not circulating water as it should. Run it with the cap off to see what is happening. Be careful as you have an unusal situation and you may have steam when it is not expected.

Good luck,

 

Thnx for the reply, I have a 2004 4.7L Dodge ram 1500. I have taken the cap off and ran it for a couple minutes, I dont see anything moving at all. it looks like a puddle that doesnt move. Am I supposed to wait untill the temp guage moves to the normal operating temp? I ran it for about 6-7 minutes and nothing moved when i had someone step on the gas a tad, it spilled out but that was it, I didnt see any swirling like some people may suggest...

 

From what you describe w/ only part of the radiator being hot at operating temps it seems like there is an obstruction in the radiator. You may need a new radiator, but I would take it to a pro before I spent the cash. Does your whole radiator ever got hot or just the top area?

 

Just the top area that I know of. The top is always burning, the middle and bottom are always cold to the touch. I was "told" that because the hot fluid comes from the engine to the top hose that the top of the rad will be hot and the cold fluid will go into the bottom, thats why the bottom and middle of the rad are colder. I then read that the whole radiator should be hot but the dealer insists that my rad is fine and the coolant is flowing in the radiator. If they did the cap test like I did, I dont know how they saw anything...I also tried to drain the radiator by the peacock valve and I couldnt get anything out because it stopped after 10 seconds; I think it must have gotten clogged so maybe the rad is clogged...

 

Def. sounds like your radiator is clogged. The radiator should drain pretty much completly when the peacock is opened. I have had the peacock clog and just used scribe to clean out the obstruction. That might help you out for the clog in valve but sounds like you have it clogged up higher.

 

Yea I just drained mine, flushed, and refilled and it drains for a lot longer than 10 seconds. I just did a quick google of radiator blockage and it says to scan the radiator when the engine is hot and at idle w/ a infrared thermometer looking for cold spots to indicate a blockage. If the dealer didn't do that then they didn't do their job right. If it is the radiator you can take it somewhere and the can try reverse flushing it to attempt to clear the blockage, but it may still have to be replaced. Take it to another shop and have them take a look at it and give you their opinion.

 

Clogged radiator. Replace it before summer gets here!!

 

mine was doing the samething.I changed eveything from the water pump,t-stat,radiator cap and even put an e-fan on it and it kept doing that exact samething.finially i ordered a new rad last wends.here the link to it it was only $147.00 shipped.I hope this fixes it. hope the info will help ya


http://www.radiatorswarehouse.com/it...NC43Ijt9&mode=

 

thanks, I will see if I can either get it reversed flush or buy a new one. I think a new one from ebay is 150. I think OEM is $300 +. The truck is an 04 with 69k, I am a little confused that a radiator would get clogged with a truck with so little miles, although maybe a new water pump and thermostat would have unclogged debris and made it clog into the radiator...