After a hard pull on tow vehicle

every year I steam clean my radiators on all my vehicles because I don't want a clogged radiator. Around here, leaves get chewed up and stacked into radiators that eventually prevent any and all cooling.

Even a decent engine de-greaser and spray from a garden hose is enough to get a ton of grime out of a radiator. If you're going to use a pressure washer, use the gentlest setting you can (or just don't spray too close to the radiator, because if you bend fins, you reduce cooling efficacy.

This is also why my grills always get a layer of window or gutter mesh added to them to keep the bigger bits of debris out as well.

Me Again wrote:
Get rid of the puck bottle and extended the breather hose down below the engine slightly. You will most likely find that you rad looks like the one pictured earlier.

Spray it with Simple Green and hose and leaf blower it from the front to wash it clean. It is a really messy job. All the **** is gong to end up on the front of the engine and you then have clean it also.

Chris

Yes, my slobber tube is "vented to the atmosphere" hangs down some but not enough. Makes a mess on trans pan. Going to add about 4 inch.

Regular Simple green or the big buck stuff for alum and aircraft?

For coolant mixture, I use 50/50 premixed either fleet gaurd or Cummins

Get rid of the puck bottle and extended the breather hose down below the engine slightly. You will most likely find that you rad looks like the one pictured earlier.

Spray it with Simple Green and hose and leaf blower it from the front to wash it clean. It is a really messy job. All the **** is gong to end up on the front of the engine and you then have clean it also.

Chris

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
OP the coolant change schedule for your truck is every 2 years or 24,000 miles! So if you have never had it serviced you might want to get it done. You can do it yourself if you have some place other then the ground to dispose of the old coolant. If doing it yourself I would pull the T-stat add a good radiator flush chemical fallowing the directions on the bottle. Re flush with clear water then reinstall the t-stat and fill with a 50/50 solution coolant and distilled water. Or take it to a good radiator shop near you and have them do it, along with cleaning the radiators exterior of bugs.

Don

Op here...Two things...

(1) Yes, I change coolant but have never done a good external cleaning of radaitor.

(2) Haven't seen his postings lately but there's a retired Ford Trans engineer that does or did post every now and then. But he had what I thought was a good idea. When temps are up because of an uphill grade and your at the top, keep going to get some cool air of the downhill.

Thanks

"The manufacturer's recommendation:

The standard recommendation is to use a 50/50 mix of antifreeze and water. This represents a compromise between cooling efficiency and the ability to prevent the mix from freezing during cold weather. After all, the initial purpose of antifreeze is to prevent freezing.

But a 50/50 mix does not give the best cooling. For improved cooling in hot weather, we should use less antifreeze and more water, perhaps going to a 25/75 or a 20/80 mix ratio.

Everyone knows antifreeze prevents corrosion, and corrosion is bad. True enough. But, even a 10/90 ratio of antifreeze to water will serve the puproses of inhibiting corrosion, at least according to one source of information."

rhagfo wrote:

Actually a 60/40 mix antifreeze to water will increase the cooling ability!

I think you got that backwards. The more water the better the cooling. So a 40/60 mix of antifreeze to water will give better cooling. However, it may cause some problems if the OP has a substantial cold spell where they're located.

I guess according to several of the posters, EVERY truck I have ever owned had something wrong with it as my temps have always increased when pulling a load through the mountains.

My expectation is that the temp would increase. And in the scenario you mention, I could see it going to the very high end. I had the same thing happen to me back when I had my 01 CTD. I was pulling a 10000# 5er, pulling it on Hwy 50 between Montrose and Gunnison, got caught in construction and couldn't keep speed up, the temp gauge reached the top of normal before I could gain some speed/RPMs and get it to cool down. The truck was brand new, so it was not a radiator/cooling problem. Just a matter of circumstances.

To answer the cooling down period, there are times where we stop at the top of a pass (there is almost always a place to stop pull over) and check my load/use the bathroom/walk the dogs. When I do this, I always make sure I let the truck idle for 3-5 minutes.

And, a side note, it is good to see ib post. Hope you are doing well.

Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
OP the coolant change schedule for your truck is every 2 years or 24,000 miles! So if you have never had it serviced you might want to get it done. You can do it yourself if you have some place other then the ground to dispose of the old coolant. If doing it yourself I would pull the T-stat add a good radiator flush chemical fallowing the directions on the bottle. Re flush with clear water then reinstall the t-stat and fill with a 50/50 solution coolant and distilled water. Or take it to a good radiator shop near you and have them do it, along with cleaning the radiators exterior of bugs.

Don

Actually a 60/40 mix antifreeze to water will increase the cooling ability!

OP the coolant change schedule for your truck is every 2 years or 24,000 miles! So if you have never had it serviced you might want to get it done. You can do it yourself if you have some place other then the ground to dispose of the old coolant. If doing it yourself I would pull the T-stat add a good radiator flush chemical fallowing the directions on the bottle. Re flush with clear water then reinstall the t-stat and fill with a 50/50 solution coolant and distilled water. Or take it to a good radiator shop near you and have them do it, along with cleaning the radiators exterior of bugs.

Don

OP here... Route was from I-5 over to Crescent city, CA state 299. Bunch on construction, with pretty good hills and over 90 degrees. Seamed like I just get going and had to stop for construction one lane several times. Vehicle is 2001 dodge with 5.9 First time I saw temps over 210 in trans. I have BD exhaust brake which works great on freeway speeds. But lower speeds and rpm's not much. Had it in second couple times (on purpose to keep from up shifting and then only to down shift). I've never cleaned out my radiator before. Guess I need to. It's coming up on 90,000 miles. Replaced t-stat couple months ago. My normal coolant temp is about 190. Trailer is around 8,500 pounds. Good info in this posting IMO. I always get egts under 4 before shutting off. Rear end is 4:10 stock (and being 2 wheel drive gets stuck in my own backyard if its wet.)