Higher than normal engine temp......

[CumminsPuller]

I hauled an 8x8x10'7" building the other day 175 miles. Sitting on my trailer I had a height of 13'9". I couldn't pull it faster than 55mph due to my engine temp rising. At 55mph the engine temp was just below the tick mark between 190 and 240. Running the A/C would bring the temp up to the tick mark.



I did not push it farther than that because of the temp situation. Would it have been safe to run it closer to 240? EGT's were still in check and boost was running about 16-17psi. The truck had alot more to go according to the gauges but the damn engine temp... ... ...



Jason

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Do you still have the OEM T-Stat in?



http://dodgeram.info/tsb/1998/07-08-98.htm



Check your engine fan clutch to make sure it's good.

 

[CumminsPuller]

HEMI...........

A new thermostat and coolant went in about 7 months ago. As far as that TSB goes, I hadn't seen that. Now the truck didnt actually overheat, just ran hotter than normal. When I did change the thermostat I put a 180 degree unit from Chrysler in there. To me it would be understandable to have a bit higher temperatures pulling something that sucks so much wind. The building itself only weighed 4K pounds. So between the trailer and the building I only had 12K pounds behind the truck.



Then engine fan clutch was replaced about 3 months ago.



Last night I 18-19K behind the truck and the temp was fine. Right at or just below 190.



What is the difference in the thermostat mentioned in the TSB?



Jason

 

[TowPro]

If you want to know for sure, pull the thermostat and drop it in a pan of water on your stove, but the heat to it and watch it. What your looking for is does it open all the way? Does it open smoothly? Does it open all the way before you hit a rolling boil?

 

[Berrigan]

I have the same questions. When the alarm bell goes off due to high temp what temp is it set to alarm at?



My uneducated rule of thumb has always been when the temp is in the area of the gage that is underscored as normal, your ok to run there all day long. When the needle climbs out of the underscored area you need to take action to cool it down. That means pull up on the throttle, slow, down shift, and turn off the ac, and even turn on the heater if need be. Then the red area of the gage is to tell you to cool it immediatly or cause engine damage.



Would you all agree with this?



Lastly the only time I ever see these extreme temps is when pulling long grades in high ambient temps with a big load behind me. Thanks Bill

 

[Wiredawg]

I agree w/ Berrigan

What Berrigan said. When I pull my 17K lb 5th wheel in the mountains when it's hot on a long uphill w/ AC on just before the the right end of the underscored. Cools down on the down hill. Watch EGT (not over 1200 sustained for me) and Water Temp inside the underscored area. AC is last to go (theoretical as I never have turned it off).



Wiredawg

 

[Berrigan]

Re: I agree w/ Berrigan

Originally posted by Wiredawg

What Berrigan said. When I pull my 17K lb 5th wheel in the mountains when it's hot on a long uphill w/ AC on just before the the right end of the underscored. Cools down on the down hill. Watch EGT (not over 1200 sustained for me) and Water Temp inside the underscored area. AC is last to go (theoretical as I never have turned it off).



Wiredawg

Wiredawg, Thats exactly where my truck runs pulling a 13k load behind me. At 100 degree outside temps my truck holds right to the hottest part of the underscored area. Then one time after after cresting a long grade, and the temp holding at max underscore, all the sudden the alarm bell sounded. I looked at the gage and it was in the red. Almost as if the needle was stuck at max underscore then popped loose up to red. I backed out of it and before I could even downshift the needle moved back to max underscore. The total time of red alarm was 3 or 4 seconds . Im not sure what to make of that event and thats why I was interested in this thread and woundered what the setpoint was for the alarm. My egts never went above 1150 post turbo and like your truck when you hit the downgrade the engine temps drop fast. My cooling system is maintained well and the fan clutch locks at about 185 and sounds like a 747 when locked.



Does anyone know where Illflem is these days? Seem to recall he had alot of experience with the cooling systems. Bill

 

[Kirwin]

High coolant temperatures

CumminsPuller, have you looked down inside your radiator neck to see if there are any calcium or other mineral deposits? I'm not trying to insult your intelligence but my experience is that the radiators in our trucks (after 1993 when they finally fixed the location of the radiator inlet) are adequate even for slightly bombed applications as long as you are reasonable. IE you cant' run wide open up a 10% grade, pulling 25K, and not expect to to run a little warm. Every time I've had a cooling issue it was due to some form of scale formation on the radiator tubes inside the radiator. I've become a bit of a nut about cooling system maintenance but 5-7 years is about all I get from a radiator before this scale shows up. I have a hunch that it maybe due to the 6 month "cruises" that Uncle Sam sends me on when the truck sits parked for the whole time. Ken Irwin

 

[MCummings]

Re: Re: I agree w/ Berrigan

Originally posted by Berrigan

My egts never went above 1150 post turbo and like your truck when you hit the downgrade the engine temps drop fast.



Does anyone know where Illflem is these days? Seem to recall he had alot of experience with the cooling systems. Bill

1150 POST Turbo?! That's Cookin' for sure. I'd bet you are 1400+ pre-turbo.



Illflem got banned from TDR,, lots of unseen decisions, and actions by both TDR staff and Illflem. He's over on DTR now, goes by the name infidel.



Merrick

 

[Berrigan]

Merrick, its pre turbo, my mistake. Bill

 

[MCummings]

ahh, ok,, more fuel to ya then !



Merrick

 

[rblomquist]

You know I was having those kinds of temp issues and when I got my new transmission the engine temp never goes beyond 190-200ish and that's even towing 75mph in 110+ degree heat here in the Vegas area.



My TT sometimes is loaded to 11,500lbs. I see you have an aftermarket transmission so that's good but it would seem odd that it's running that hot.





Also, Illflem got booted from the TDR???????? That guy was an absolute wealth of info on these trucks. He's the only one that suggested I'd lost a head gasket (and he was right).

 

[CumminsPuller]

Well yesterday I bought some more antifreeze and between the radiator and the overflow bottle I was able to get a half a gallon in. Towed with the truck today just around town and engine temp would be at 190 or just above. Even after stopping and idleing for 20-30 minutes the engine temp stayed at 190. Usually it will drop quite a bit as soon as you come to a stop.



Kirwin, it seems to me that if the radiator was beginning to have signs of deposits this might have been a gradual thing. Tomorrow I am going to check out the thermostat. If that doesn't fix it seems it would have to be the radiator. Not much else involved in the system, unless I am missing something?



Jason

 

[claymike]

My old 01 did the same thing on vacation last year towing. Would be ok on the flat and stop and go but when you towed over a hill it would go to the high end of normal. Replaced the stat, clutch fan but still had the problem. Looked between the intercooler and the radiator and found the blow by caused a film and all the dirt, cotton trees and muck pluged the fins. Looked like a sweater but you could only see it at a certain angle.

 

[CumminsPuller]

WEll today I did alot of running around town without my trailer in tow. and the engine temp issue seemed to be ok. I am guessing because of the summer heat is the reason why while towing I am running into this higher than normal engine temp issue. One thing still has me puzzled..... I pulled about 18000 pounds to Houston the other day and after stopiing my engine temp began to rise to over 190... ... . I am thinking because of the sudden stopping and not to much airflow that is what caused it... ... ... Also I took a look between the AC condenser and the radiator and on the radiator there are quite a few bugs built up there ... ... . I will try cleaning that and see how it works... .....



Jason

 

[claymike]

Blow it out from the back side with air first then I took some simple green and sprayed it good let it set for 10 min then sprayed it out with the water hose being carfull not to bend any fins. You will be surprised how much comes out of there.

 

[CumminsPuller]

How about spraying it from the backside with water first, then the simple green... ... then rinse it. I do not have a source of air here at the house... ... .....



Jason

 

[MCummings]

I just took the radiator down to the local high pressure car wash,,,, or course, I was putting in a Cam, and head at the same time. .



Merrick

 

[claymike]

Originally posted by CumminsPuller

How about spraying it from the backside with water first, then the simple green... ... then rinse it. I do not have a source of air here at the house... ... .....



Jason

That will work just dont bend the fins.

 

[claymike]

Jason are you Boring, OR or Lake Charles? If you are in Boring you are 10 min from me.