99 dodge ctd overheating

[Cody]

my dodge has been running hot lately just around town. Yesterday I tried to tow up to AF canyon. It ran about 20* warmer than usual on the freeway, and when I got off the free way and into the construction, it overheated--straight to redline.

I let it cool off for about 15 minutes, made it up to the canyon, and once in the canyon it overheated in about 3 minutes.

I was going to have the radiator flushed, but I've heard from a couple sources that the radiator in the Dodge's is basically desposable and it wouldn't do me any good to have that done. I don't think it would be the t-stat since it doesn't overheat while there is airflow (wouldn't a stuck t-stat make it overheat no matter what?). Should I have the radiator replaced or what? Have it flushed and see if that helps?
Cody

 

[Hickey]

How is your pyro temp? Sometimes a bad injector will make it run hot. Check your water pump, too. Is it weeping fluid? Fan clutch, does the fan spin freely with the engine off? (it shouldn't if the engine is hot)

 

[Cody]

Pyro runs pretty hot. Pulling, I've seen it over 900 when pulling up a hill. I also have a cracked exhaust manifold which I think would contribute to elevated underhood temperatures.

waterpump doesn't appear to be leaking. I'll check again. It was bubbling out of the overflow bottle so it's hard to tell if coolant is coming from anywhere else.

I'll go spin the fan and report back...

Cody

 

[chadschoon]

i would also check the fan clutch. had this happen to me once. you would still be getting cool air at high speeds but once you slow down the fan would do nothing

 

[SnwMnkys]

900 degrees is pretty normal if your probe is pre turbo, which is where it should be. I see 900 degrees unloaded all the time on my PSD.

 

[Samuraiman]

Pyro runs pretty hot. Pulling, I've seen it over 900 when pulling up a hill. I also have a cracked exhaust manifold which I think would contribute to elevated underhood temperatures.

waterpump doesn't appear to be leaking. I'll check again. It was bubbling out of the overflow bottle so it's hard to tell if coolant is coming from anywhere else.

I'll go spin the fan and report back...

Cody

Hey I have those things in the shop all the time for overheating. The most commom problem I see is that the air to air is messed up. Your fan wants all the air it can get and if you have mud rocks bugs leafs etc.. in your intercooler fins you fan doesn't get all the air it wants. Also check you radiator, condensor etc for blockage, especially your intercoooler though. Mud seems to settle in the lower half and it is hard to get to. I would suggest flushing the intercooler fins out with a hose and just try to get in there the best you can. I usually pull the radiator so that I can get it REALLY GOOD>Also your killing yourself with that cracked manifold, but that shouldn't cause it to overheat. You can run up around 1300 MAX on pyro. I think I would rather put in a new radiator in my truck than flush it. Also as they always say use distilled water. LOL Let us know what you find.

 

[53 willys]

check between the radiator and the intercooler I bet money it's got a big round gresey mess the size of your fan on the radiator blocking a ton of air.

the damn crankcase vent bottle is probley leaking and it blows oil all over everything just make sure you take the rad out to clean it, if you use pressure washer you will fold all the cooling fins over and make it worse check out www.dieseltruckresource.com there is a write up on moving the oil bottle under the truck bed so no more mess and it cost like $7.00 bucks or so.

my truck is a 01 and I have had to clean the rad 2x already

 

[Samuraiman]

Oooooooppps

QUOTE: if you use pressure washer you will fold all the cooling fins over and make it worse



Hey did you learn this from experience. LOL A garden hose works fine. Quite putting 3 1/2 gallons of oil in it. J/K

 

[53 willys]

QUOTE: if you use pressure washer you will fold all the cooling fins over and make it worse



Hey did you learn this from experience. LOL A garden hose works fine. Quite putting 3 1/2 gallons of oil in it. J/K

No I did not learn this from experience, I know that is what alot of ppl use on their engines to clean them though. I still think he should take the rad out to clean it, I tried to clean it with out taking it out and it helps, but only for a little while then it's back to the RED

 

[Cody]

I did some reading on that diesel resource BB a couple days ago and it looks like i just need to pull the radiator, clean everything up really good, and back flush the system.

It's hard to find motiviation to do **** like that when it's 100 damn degrees out though.

Cody

 

[Meat_]

..It's hard to find motiviation to do **** like that when it's 100 damn degrees out though.

Cody

nah, just think about a nice long walk next week in that same 100 deg heat, that should get you to wrenching

 

[muleskinner]

Could this be the problem?

 

[Herzog]

Cody - I'm having the same problems with mine recently. Mine just doesn't have the power it used to over a year ago, and it runs HOT all the time when I tow.

I'm thinking mine is a mix between air blockage in my radiator fins and I think my fuel pump is about to die. I'm not very happy at all... :/

 

[DToy]

Had the same problem with my '99. I replaced the thermostat and it helped slightly, but still not the ticket. I looked at my radiator and intercooler and there was a ton of dirt, sludge, bugs, etc. in the fins. I took a 2' long piece of 1/2" copper and soldered an elbow onto one end. Then I took a hammer and flattened the end of the elbow, and then cut the end off of a garden hose and hose clamped it to the end of the copper tube. Turned on the hose and flushed out the fins on the radiator, intercooler, a/c condenser, and trans cooler. Worked pretty sweet since it's just skinny enough to snake down between everything. Took my truck up several steep pulls this weekend and it is running wayyy cooler. Tranny and engine temps barely bumped up on the steep stuff.

Still not as good as pulling the radiator and flushing everything that way, but effective nonetheless. Worth trying to flush everything before replacing parts.

 

[Herzog]

check between the radiator and the intercooler I bet money it's got a big round gresey mess the size of your fan on the radiator blocking a ton of air.

Good description... exactly what I found on mine. I took the garden hose with a spray nosel and sprayed from the engine side out... I couldn't believe how much junk fell out of there!

Runs A LOT cooler now. Thanks for the info guys.

 

[Hickey]

Good description... exactly what I found on mine. I took the garden hose with a spray nosel and sprayed from the engine side out... I couldn't believe how much junk fell out of there!

Runs A LOT cooler now. Thanks for the info guys.

What about spraying some engine degreaser on there before hosing it off?

 

[Herzog]

What about spraying some engine degreaser on there before hosing it off?

Definately, but I just tried the water first. Turned my driveway completely black.

I'm going to pull the radiator in a couple weeks and degrease that s.o.b.

 

[Cody]

I also have a big greasy fan size blotch on my radiator. I don't have anything around that is easy to get into there to spray, and I don't have the time/tools to take the radiator out and clean it and it'll probably be 10 days before I'll have enough time to do it.

Is there something in particular I could spray on it to loosen it up so when I spray it with the hose it removes more of it?

Cody

 

[Herzog]

I also have a big greasy fan size blotch on my radiator. I don't have anything around that is easy to get into there to spray, and I don't have the time/tools to take the radiator out and clean it and it'll probably be 10 days before I'll have enough time to do it.

Is there something in particular I could spray on it to loosen it up so when I spray it with the hose it removes more of it?

Cody

Just get a garden hose and put your thumb over it to put out some pressure... It will knock a lot of it out of there. Just make sure you spray from the engine side forward.

 

[Cody]

I found an old nozzle that got in there pretty good. I had a hard time getting the center (in front of the fan) and the bottom, but I got the top 2/3 pretty good. I can see through it now. When things calm down I'm going to pull it, flush it, do the t-stat etc.

Hopefully the stuff I got out of there will help it until then.

Thanks for the help guys!

Cody