My truck overheated a couple of days ago while pulling my horse trailer (about 12-13K loaded) over Vail Pass and by the Eisenhower Tunnel. Here's the details about my truck since my Dad's truck is listed in the signature.
96' CTD 2500 4WD Auto, 244K miles
DTT transmission with 3rd gear drum, smart controller, dipricol transmission temp, egt and boost, #6 plate, big injectors and green filter
I have NEVER had a problem with overheating before and the truck usually runs really cool. Temps without the trailer usually average 150-160 and egt's of 400-600. With the trailer, coolant usually is at about 160 - 180 and egt's around 600 - 800.
All my trouble started when I started climbing the hills toward Denver. I took it out of overdrive and decided to slow down and turn my a/c off also. This helped a little but the coolant temp went to 220 and egt's were at 1200. I slowed down to about 20 and crept up the hill. This was enough to keep it from completely red-lining. Any time I tried to accelerate, the truck would bog down and within a few seconds there would be a huge cloud of black smoke.
When I got to the big hill before the Eisenhower tunnel, I drove up at 5 miles an hour and ended up stopping part way up to let things cool down when the coolant temp neared 240. The egt's stayed at 1250. Also had the heater on to try to cool things down. It billowed black smoke and had the same low power symptoms.
The truck now runs hotter and is staying in the 600 - 1000 egt range when driving locally without a trailer and the coolant level is fluctuating beween 140 and 200.
In both cases, when I made it to the top the temps came down significantly, but not as low as usual. The coolant has been changed within 6 mos and looks normal. Oil and transmission fluid are full. The t-stat was changed on Saturday hoping for an easy fix but it hasn't solved the problem. Radiator was drained an refilled and doesn't seem to have any problems. The air system was also pressurized and no air leaks could be found. The fan does not have any oil on it and is fairly clean. The only lack of power I noticed was on the uphills and there is no noticeable lack of power while driving in town or up hills with no trailer.
I read a lot of the posts but obviously don't know enough to draw a solid conclusion - any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks ~ Erin
96' CTD 2500 4WD Auto, 244K miles
DTT transmission with 3rd gear drum, smart controller, dipricol transmission temp, egt and boost, #6 plate, big injectors and green filter
I have NEVER had a problem with overheating before and the truck usually runs really cool. Temps without the trailer usually average 150-160 and egt's of 400-600. With the trailer, coolant usually is at about 160 - 180 and egt's around 600 - 800.
All my trouble started when I started climbing the hills toward Denver. I took it out of overdrive and decided to slow down and turn my a/c off also. This helped a little but the coolant temp went to 220 and egt's were at 1200. I slowed down to about 20 and crept up the hill. This was enough to keep it from completely red-lining. Any time I tried to accelerate, the truck would bog down and within a few seconds there would be a huge cloud of black smoke.
When I got to the big hill before the Eisenhower tunnel, I drove up at 5 miles an hour and ended up stopping part way up to let things cool down when the coolant temp neared 240. The egt's stayed at 1250. Also had the heater on to try to cool things down. It billowed black smoke and had the same low power symptoms.
The truck now runs hotter and is staying in the 600 - 1000 egt range when driving locally without a trailer and the coolant level is fluctuating beween 140 and 200.
In both cases, when I made it to the top the temps came down significantly, but not as low as usual. The coolant has been changed within 6 mos and looks normal. Oil and transmission fluid are full. The t-stat was changed on Saturday hoping for an easy fix but it hasn't solved the problem. Radiator was drained an refilled and doesn't seem to have any problems. The air system was also pressurized and no air leaks could be found. The fan does not have any oil on it and is fairly clean. The only lack of power I noticed was on the uphills and there is no noticeable lack of power while driving in town or up hills with no trailer.
I read a lot of the posts but obviously don't know enough to draw a solid conclusion - any help is greatly appreciated
Thanks ~ Erin