Started it up this morning and waited for the Needle...it didn't jump.

Shut it down, checked oil level....all is good.

Drove it a couple of miles watching Coolant Temperature...started rising above 180 degrees.

SHUT HER DOWN!!!

HELP!!!

 

Probably just the sending unit. What year truck do you have? Best thing to do is check pressure with a mechanical gauge (usually screws in in place of the sending unit), if pressure reads good there then the sending unit is toast. If not then I'm surprised you don't hear some type of loud knocking along with the low pressure.

 

I've thought about the sending unit going bad, and I hope that's all it is, but it scared me when the temperature starting going above "normal". It was only 70 degrees outside this morning.

Some might think I might be too skittish, and I might be...but in this situation I'd rather spend a few bucks to know for sure, then have to put out the big bucks when I didn't have to.

I was listening for big knocks, but I didn't hear anything unusual.


Thanks for the feedback! I feel better!

It's going to the dealership tomorrow for an evaluation, then we'll go from there.

Just wish I trusted those guys more, I've been jerked around by a couple of them.

 

Taking it in for a checkup is definitely the right thing to do. The 180Deg temp you mentioned before definitely doesn't sound above normal to me. 190 is directly in the middle of the normal range on my gauge, cruising the highway at 65+ it easily settles at about 191-192Deg. Let us know how it turns out, definitely hoping it's the sending unit, I belive that's a part you can get from Cummins quite a bit cheaper than from Dodge, too.

 

Turns out it was only the sensor!!!

At $92 an hour the total bill came $362.00...in St. Louis the hourly rate is $110

 

damn! how much was the part?

 

About half...but I haven't figured the employee discount, which might knock it down $80. I got a new VP44 for $1200.

I work in the St. Louis North plant where these things are assembled.