I hope somone can give me direction. When pulling my trailer up hill my truck over heats very close to red line. When I level off, the truck cools to normal temp (190). Any help would be great! Thanks!

 

1. If your temp is that high, you SHOULD be able to hear the cooling fan as it engages. If not, you may have a bad thermo clutch.

2. If the cooling system does not boil over, I would just keep an eye on it. Maybe even drop down a gear up that hill. Engine will work more efficiently, which means less heat all around.Coolant quality is good?

3. Coolant quality is ok, level is adequate?

4. How's the serpentine belt?


Just some of what I'd look for.

Good luck with your ride.

 

Thanks! I have recently replaced the belt. Coolent is good. Is it possible that it could be a t-stat problem or a pump problem?

 

Absolutley can be a pump or stat. What about the fan? Does it engaged in that high a temp? It better..lol!

There's no mistaking when the fan is engaged. You may even sense a slight rpm drop when it happens. If that fan does not sound like a jet engine at that high a temp, I would look at the fan clutch. Some guys hit them with a heat gun, some with hot water. Make sure the clutch spring is not broken. Otherwise the fan spins from momentum alone. You would get ZERO cooling in that situation.

If the fan clutch does engage, and all else is good, try easing up on the pedal and droppin a gear. See if the engine can operate in a more normal temp range. You may be mashin the pedal to climb but not burnin all that fuel. Fuel is heat...no two ways about it.

Let us know.

Good luck with your ride.

OUCH!!!!!!!!!

 

A few things to consider:

If you're pulling a trailer in the mountains, the rarified air found at high elevations will not affect power output much because the turbocharger makes up the difference. It will affect your cooling ability, however. The thin air will draw less heat from the radiator and the intercooler.

The ratio of antifreeze to water affects the efficacy of your cooling system. Water has a higher specific heat capacity than ethylene glycol. Pure water would give you the best cooling performance, although it gives no corrosion protection, a lower boiling point, and limited water pump lubrication. A 50/50 mixture is probably the best overall. If your mixture is more like 60/40, try adding more water to get it closer to 50/50. It won't make a huge difference, but it should help.

At freeway speeds the fan isn't going to help much, if at all. The fan is needed when sitting in stop and go traffic or driving at slow speeds. If your truck is going 70 MPH, then you get 70 MPH air going past the intercooler and radiator whether the fan is working or not.

You could have a problem with the thermostat, although in my experience t-stats fail by not opening at all. A new t-stat is cheap and easy to R&R, so it wouldn't hurt to try a new one.

As DieselDemon says, try dropping a gear to give you higher RPM. Also, if you slow down a little it will require less engine power, which will produce less heat.

 

Thanks again!! Here are some more details of the situation. I am hoping it will help you help me. The fan is working. The overheating is worse when going uphill at a lower rpm. It is an auto trans so I have to put my foot thru the floorboard to get it to kick into a lower gear. When going up a slight incline at high rpm the fan seems to keep it cooler(still hot...but not as hot).Going up a steep hill for a long period of time at a high rpm also gets it close to the red line. Its when it kicks down to a lower rpm that it starts getting scary. And of course when I level out or go downhill it holds right at 190. It also cools down very fast. Inmatter of seconds. I hope this helps. Thanks again!

 

Great info! Thank You!

 

The reason it cools better at a higher RPM is not because of the fan speed. Your water pump runs off a belt, so your water pump gives you more flow and the coolant goes through the radiator faster which gives you more cooling.

Since you have an auto transmission, remember that pulling a trailer will generate more heat in the transmission as well as the engine. Is the transmission fluid routed to the radiator for cooling? Adding an auxiliary trans coolermay help keep some of the heat out of the radiator.

Remember that heat is a by-product of producing horsepower. Pulling a trailer up a steep grade takes a lot of hp, and makes a lot of heat. It doesn't takemuch hp to go downhill, so your cooling system is able to keep up with no problem.

 

Thanks! Do you think by beefing up my transmission this would correct the overheat problem. Also would you be willing to suggest any upgrades or add ons I should make for better towing performance. I am at high altitude with a stock 2000 Laramie SLT 4x4 2500 6 cyl5.9 turbo diesel with only 95,000? Or should I get rid of this truck?

 

No Never Naa How could you say that. He is saying HP will help. A chip will help some because your getting more horsepower. Not sure how to explain it, cause even I'm still learning. The only problem with a chip is your tranny may not take it like a champ. I have an auto and been told the Edge setting one is ok pulling but go any higher and there will be some trouble. By end of year I'll have Edge with Att. and hopely have the money to get my tranny rebuilt.