Working on Truck

[SJGUSMC21]

The problem with overheating your engine is that if it warped the heads at all, it will likely cause a head gasket failure in the future. It doesn't happen right away, but the warped area causes that part of the gasket to not seal as well and eventually it can fail there.

I completely understand and agree.

 

[David L]

Are you burning water? I had a head shaved once and it fixed my warped head, on my truck LOL, I am still warped.

Once thing I can say, that I found on any vehicles that has over heated one me, once overheated they always ran hotter after that. But that was 70-80-90s

 

[SJGUSMC21]

Thanks David, nope, not burning water.

 

[fergenheimer]

@SJGUSMC21 I have had high temperature problems with my Cummins in a 2016. What I suspect was happening was not a high temperature but an indicated high temperature. I believe that I was drawing a bubble at the temperature sending unit and since it was not in liquid it was indicating erratic temperatures. IIRC, the temperature would scream high then come back down when it was submerged. At least once, my water was low it stopped when I filled the reservoir back up. If you have an IR gun, you might check the block and see if it is indeed near the indicated temperature. Another easy troubleshooting step would be to remove the radiator cap while cold and run it until it gets hot. Without getting pressurized, the bulk temperature cannot go above 212. Compare that to the indicated temperature. Do not run long since there will be localized temperatures that exceed this and might get steam pockets within the engine. Also if you are not pressurized, there is less of a chance to blow water into the intake, etc. You can also check the resistance with a multimeter. If it is open or shorted, it could be bad. Also, have you thrown any codes? They might give a clue.

 

[SJGUSMC21]

fergenheimer...thank you. That is quite the list. As for codes, I have thrown no codes at all. That is what puzzles me. As for it being hot...oh yes, its hot under that hood when I open it up. I mean, it always has been, but that is why the fan was in warp drive mode to cool it all down. Now, it's in limp-d**k mode, and doesn't cool crap off at all.

 

[SJGUSMC21]

I guess there is finally a happy ending to this story without a massage parlor being in it. Got the fan swapped out and BOOM BADDA BING! We have ignition without overheating. I'll be damn.

So, all in all, I am freak'n happy. My wallet is sniffling a bit, but NOTHING like it would have been if I had taken it to the dealer. Everyone on the Ram Forums was swearing up and down it was a head gasket..nope. Thank God it wasn't.

So this is what I think happened. I think my fan started to go bad last summer when all of this started. I also think at that time my thermostat was acting up, that is why it overheated. Fast forward...I swapped out all the gaskets and thermostat, purged the old coolant, in with new and things SEEMED BETTER...although it was winter. Now fast forward to the present and the fan finally said 'fu'. That and my radiator said the same (leak). I think the only questionable part I swapped was the water pump, which turned out to be the cheapest. In the long run, most if not all of the items were due to be swapped as I had hit 100K The list....

Spark Plugs
Camshaft Sensors
PCV
Valve cover gaskets
Spark Plug gaskets
Upper radiator hose
Lower radiator hose
Thermostat
Idler pulley
Serpentine Belt
Radiator
Radiator Fan
Coolant flush
Water Pump
Alternator

The alternator was last spring and the serpentine belt was 'just because'.

Total, give or take, $950 and that included a lot of shopping around. For example, the Cam Shaft Sensors, on ebay, each (oem)$17, Dodge $45 to $55 each. The fan was the single most expensive item. Total with shipping was $330, Rock Auto.

Imagine if I had all of this done at a dealership. The dealership alone quoted me $310 for the water pump and gasket.

I am happy and I now have as safe as it can be, truck to drive my family around.

Woot, woot and thanks for being helpful and patient with me. Hope this helps someone some time.

 

[David L]

I guess there is finally a happy ending to this story without a massage parlor being in it. Got the fan swapped out and BOOM BADDA BING! We have ignition without overheating. I'll be damn.

So, all in all, I am freak'n happy. My wallet is sniffling a bit, but NOTHING like it would have been if I had taken it to the dealer. Everyone on the Ram Forums was swearing up and down it was a head gasket..nope. Thank God it wasn't.

So this is what I think happened. I think my fan started to go bad last summer when all of this started. I also think at that time my thermostat was acting up, that is why it overheated. Fast forward...I swapped out all the gaskets and thermostat, purged the old coolant, in with new and things SEEMED BETTER...although it was winter. Now fast for to the present and the fan finally said 'fu'. That and my radiator said the said (leak). I think the only questionable part I swapped was the water pump, which turned out to be the cheapest. In the long run, most if not all of the items were due to be swapped as I had hit 100K The list....

Spark Plugs
Camshaft Sensors
PCV
Valve cover gaskets
Spark Plug gaskets
Upper radiator hose
Lower radiator hose
Thermostat
Idler pulley
Serpentine Belt
Radiator
Radiator Fan
Coolant flush
Water Pump
Alternator

The alternator was last spring and the serpentine belt was 'just because'.

Total, give or take, $950 and that included a lot of shopping around. For example, the Cam Shaft Sensors, on ebay, each (oem)$17, Dodge $45 to $55 each. The fan was the single most expensive item. Total with shipping was $330, Rock Auto.

Imagine if I had all of this done at a dealership. The dealership alone quoted me $310 for the water pump and gasket).

I am happy and I now have as safe as it can be, truck to drive my family around.

Woot, woot and thanks for being helpful and patient with me. Hope this helps someone some time.

I do remember having a bad fan once. I think someone I had look at it said to replace it. I did and it fixed our issue. It was one of those Electric fans stuck to the radiator not on the engine with a belt. So it wasn't your fan clutch? My 2000 Dodge RAM 1500 had the fan and clutch on the engine.

 

[David L]

Look what I found, this old video of my 2000 Dodge, glad Alternators are easy to replace, I brought this part home from O'Reilly I think, anyway had to take Ole Sparky back, LOL This was back in 2015. Darn rebuilt's, that was my second one from them, finally the third one worked...crazy huh...
View attachment 2015-12-31_Ole_Sparky_Second_Bad_Alt.mp4

 

[SJGUSMC21]

The fan is a brushless motor and pwm. All the circuitry is in the motor, not in the fuse box where there are normally hi and low speed fan relays. In mine, there is only a 80 watt pwm fan fuse. THIS took me a long time to figure out as there isn't a whole lot of information on it. That was the last thing everyone was telling me...can't be your fan, they last a long time, blah, blah....head gasket....warped heads..blah blah.

I got my rebuilt alternator from a guy on Ebay. Have bought from him before and never had an issue. To me, O'Reilly's is VERY hit and miss...its the attitude I don't like. IMO

 

[David L]

The fan is a brushless motor and pwm. All the circuitry is in the motor, not in the fuse box where there are normally hi and low speed fan relays. In mine, there is only a 80 watt pwm fan fuse. THIS took me a long time to figure out as there isn't a whole lot of information on it. That was the last thing everyone was telling me...can't be your fan, they last a long time, blah, blah....head gasket....warped heads..blah blah.

I got my rebuilt alternator from a guy on Ebay. Have bought from him before and never had an issue. To me, O'Reilly's is VERY hit and miss...its the attitude I don't like. IMO

Yeah. AutoZone is the one who has burnt me the most over the years. That is, coming home with wrong parts. We did buy an Alternator from them once, lifetime warranty, well it seemed to go out about every two years. I think we got three replacements from them. They did not give us any problem exchanging though.

 

[garycrist]

I have a 1992 Mustang GT. It overheated and did not stop worth a boot! I did a Cobra upgrade
front and rear with the booster, master cyl. and the prop valve. Boy will it stop now.

Next came the Contour dual fan with a Dakota Digital controller. A carbon fiber quasi 1968
GT500 look alike hood and the overheating was solved! Eibach springs and sway bars now
make it go around corners on rails. I even hooked up a "Trip Minder" out of a T-Bird to monitor
fuel mileage.

I salute you for your endeavor!

 

[David L]

I have a 1992 Mustang GT. It overheated and did not stop worth a boot! I did a Cobra upgrade
front and rear with the booster, master cyl. and the prop valve. Boy will it stop now.

Next came the Contour dual fan with a Dakota Digital controller. A carbon fiber quasi 1968
GT500 look alike hood and the overheating was solved! Eibach springs and sway bars now
make it go around corners on rails. I even hooked up a "Trip Minder" out of a T-Bird to monitor
fuel mileage.

I salute you for your endeavor!

OMG, I forgot I had an 86 model T-Bird...Wow, thanks...Not positive of the year but it had the Digital Speed odometer. Even had a setting where it would flash if I went over a certain set speed. Wow, I liked that Red car...now I have to look it up...

This was the color for sure but I had a different dash, I only remember the Odometer being Digital Display.


So maybe it was a 85' since this is the dash I remember:

 

[Jim I.]

OMG, I forgot I had an 86 model T-Bird...Wow, thanks...Not positive of the year but it had the Digital Speed odometer. Even had a setting where it would flash if I went over a certain set speed. Wow, I liked that Red car...now I have to look it up...

This was the color for sure but I had a different dash, I only remember the Odometer being Digital Display.

Was it the 2.3L Turbo Coupe model? Those were pretty cool. That was one of the first Ford's that had a turbo option.

 

[David L]

Was it the 2.3L Turbo Coupe model? Those were pretty cool. That was one of the first Ford's that had a turbo option.

Not sure, I will check that out...I did not have it long enough to pay it off, thinking a couple of years. I did buy it new though. Think I sold it because I could not afford the payments...I was in my mid-20's back then...The Red was a dream, had gray interior, it was a chick magnet for sure...problem was I could not afford the car and the chicks at the same time, LOL

 

[David L]

Ok I found some pictures, I have it file named as a 86'
Thinking it was not any Turbo, pretty sure I had to get a low end package. Knowing me, not even power locks/windows
But, hey a Digital Odometer...



Yep, Cloth seats and manual locks/windows, haha...



It was a nice looking car back then

 

[David L]

 

[SJGUSMC21]

^^^ Would have been a lot cheaper!

 

[David L]

 

[TonyR]

Not sure about storing uncapped spray cans like that in a towed work trailer, though......

 

[EsperanzaRusso]

Working on newer trucks can be a real pain, especially when everything is crammed into tight spaces. It's like a workout just trying to access the parts, right? And don't even get me started on those design flaws, like that pesky oil filter placement. But hey, you're definitely not alone in your struggles. We're all here to share our experiences and help each other out. By the way, if you ever decide to look for a new truck, there are some great options available in the UK. You might want to check out trucks for sale UK. Just a suggestion!