Temp Gauge High????

[hammersley]

Last week I was over at Dworshak Reservoir, near Orofino Idaho and was camping at Dent Acres. On the way back to town, there is a steep hill. The outside air temp was very near 100, (AC was on) and I was hauling a small 18' aluminum fishing boat. I weighed myself for kicks at a weign station(unattended) and was only at 9800 lbs. But when I was climbing out of the campground - the temp registered the mark just before the hot which is 240. Not sure what the temp mark above the 190 is... Should I install an auxillary cooler - and if so - which one is the best?

 

[illflem]

It's not all that unusual for the temp to climb in 100° weather, going slow uphill with a load and AC on. It shouldn't go above 220° though. First thing I'd do is check that the radiator isn't clogged with bugs. I recently repaired a '97 GMC at work that was overheating, the radiator was so clogged with 4 years of bugs that I ended up pulling it and cleaning with a pressure washer. I'm not kidding it was at least 10-15 lbs lighter when I finished. These CTDs have a killer cooling system, I don't feel it needs add ons. If it isn't clogged up, just change the T-stat, cheap and easy to do.