2007 3500 Auto

two senarios; 1. I had a friend pullling my 30' camper in 85 degree heat on a 4 1/2 hour drive. He said it was running hot, the air conditioner wasn't working well, and he needed to stay below 65mph to keep it cool. when he arrived the temp gauge was closer to 245 than 200 but not red line and acted like it didn't want to go down.
2. I was out for a 70 mile pleasure drive today (pulling nothing) in 92 degrees and the symptoms were, overheating (above 200) if i stopped and idled for more than a minute, down the road it stayed at 200, transmission shifting down like I had it in tow haul and higher than normal RPMs on shift up (like the tranny was slipping. Fluid level, OK. Air conditioner was working well at cruise but not at idle.

My first question is, how is the fan supposed to work on the truck during these hotter than normal days?

 

Welcome to DF!

5.9 or 6.7?

Is the truck stock or have aftermarket injectors or tuner?

You can hear the fan engage/disengage periodically while at temp in idle, will sound like a huge vacuum or something. If you A/C wasnt working well at idle, i would say your fan isnt working and/or your radiators are blocked up causing poor air flow. Crawl underneth the truck and check the wire going to the fan clutch at the bottom of the fan shroud. These trucks have a history of the fan blade cutting the wires in half but you would probably have a check engine light if that was the case.

Also check in-between all the radiators for debris/rocks/bugs and give it a good cleaning.

 

To the best of my knowledge it is stock. I believe the first owner had something on it as it has a temp lead from the turbo going no where. No, I do not hear the fan. The radiators look good. Thanks for your input!

 

I checked the fan lead and it is enclosed in a metal shroud so I believe the harness is intact. I have had no check engine light since the one right after i bought it in '09 but the dealer couldn't identify it. Thanks for your help.

 

Is there alot of black smoke when you give it gas?

 

If I really stand on it, yes. I do not know if it did when pulling the camper. It hasn't when I pull my 24' gooseneck, unless I stand on it.

 

Thats probably a pyro temp sensor around the turbo. The previous owner might have done some mods to the truck and im thinking you might have larger injectors or something (pyro and lots of black smoke).

 

So any idea why the fan seems to be inop? Are you saying if it has over size injectors that is causing the over temp?

 

Larger injectors could play a role in it. Black smoke is the result of extra fuel being burned incompletely which usually raises the Exhaust/Engine Temperature in the process. Some black smoke is normal, but excessive smoke means something is off; intentionally or not.

First start with the simple, make sure your fan is operational and determine why if it is not. You should throw a code if the fan clutch is burnt out though. Check your coolant level and check for oil in it, also check you engine oil for coolant.

 

Do I need a code reader to determine if the clutch is operating? If not, how do I go about it? I know the coolant level is good, and I just changed oil. My two oil analysis in the past showed no abnormalities. I will most certainly keep an eye on these fluids.