Hi all. I have a 2003 1500 Ram van, 5.2L V8 engine, auto tranny wtih front and rear heat/AC. I have a question about the operating temperature of these last gen Ram vans. I've driven many a dodge ram van over the years and this '03 just seems to operate a bit differently. I live in Albuquerque, NM and drive frequently to Santa Fe... for those of you who don't know that's about a 1000 foot climb in elevation. Now, during the drive I'll be going about 80mph, in pretty warm to hot weather, running AC and climbing some pretty steep hills from time to time. The temp gauge will creep up to anywhere between 220 and 235... now to me that just seems a bit warm... anyone else out there wanna chime in on exactly what temp I should expect to run at in these conditions, given a properly functioning cooling system? My first thought is that the radiator may need replacing. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

 

I chased the same problem with mine last year. On mine I did a timing chain replacement and changed out the thermostat and upper radiator hose plus the heater hose beside the thermostat. Water pump was replaced a year and a half before that. I had also changed a faulty clutch fan but the temp still would go way to high for my peace of mind. The radiator had been repaired about the same time as the water pump. Turned out that the radiator was not efficient at cooling my engine due to the amount of tubes that had been sealed up. Also it was a single core radiator which IMHO is to small for living in the hotter days of the southern states.

Replace the radiator with a heavy duty 2 core and for over a year now the temp does not go much over the first third mark on the gage, never even to the halfway mark.

 

Thanks for the input. I was leaning towards just that solution, and you've confirmed it for me. I appreciate your input. By the way, how much should I expect to pay for a 2 core radiator? And, most of what I'm seeing says 2 row... is that the same, or should I explicitly be looking for it to say 2 core?

 

OK, I think that I've answered my own question in that we're talking the number of rows. All indications are that my current radiator is a 2 row, I'll double check that tomorrow morning. But, assuming I already have a 2 row radiator is it safe to assume that replacing the current copper/brass 2-row configuration with an aluminum 2-row one will be enough to do the job, or should I go with a 3 row radiator?

 

The best prices can usually be found at one of these three places. They all deliver to your door anywhere from 1 to 48 hours from the time you order it. For me, all but one time it was delivered to me within a few hours.

http://www.radiatorexpress.com/
http://www.radiators.com/
http://www.radiator.com/

 

A two row is fine, three if you are going to pull a very heavy trailer a lot in the summer.