Engine overheating

[thriftydutch]

Can old antifreeze cause the engine to overheat. The tester shows that it is still okay for minus 45 degrees celsius.

[omjones]

Excellant... way to go. My 1988 Ford Horizon does the same thing when starting out and then cools down right away. Happy it all worked out for you.
john 'I am Canadian'

[thriftydutch]

Okay, I flushed the cooling system 3 times with a cleaner and also replaced the thermostat. The new thermostat goes a little above the normal temperature line when first heating up but quickly drops down to normal. Took a thousand mile trip last week and so far everything appears okay.
Both thermostats old and new were 195 degrees.

[mkguitar]

and...for an emergency situation...

TURN OFF air conditioning-


and in real trouble turn on the heater full blast- the heater core is just like a radiator and blowing air through it will remove heat from the coolant...of course the vehicle will get hot inside...so open your windows- this could save your motor in a real emergency

IF adding water to your cooling system, only add slowly into a RUNNING motor, that way the cooler fluid is distributed slowly. a LARGE temperature differential can crack your block.

mike

[Fastpaddler]

In my humble opinion the Chrysler product V8 318 motor is one the best V8 engines ever built. It is reliable, has adequate power and is not that bad on mpg. Of course, in am RV it would use more fuel. My decades ago Plymouth 318 was bullet proof.

[thriftydutch]

eyeteeth wrote:
What motor do you have? I have not seen it listed. Here is what I recently ran into...

When I first bought my RV... third or fourth hand... it ran waaaaay hot... overheated on the way home, etc. Once home, we didn't drive it much as we use it as base camp when racing, and it typically stays in the campground. We remodeled it... then rebuilt the engine. Had the Radiator rebuilt shortly after. Still, always ran on the hot side but tolerable. This year it started running 'too' hot again, So I started investigating and eventually decided to replace the thermostat. Because nothing else has been cut and dry in my experience, I did some research. Sure enough... the Thermostat in my RV motor was 'special' and does not come up in the listing for the engine. There was supposedly a sticker at one time on the air cleaner explaining this, but it has been long gone. The descriptions of what happens with the 'wrong' or recommended Thermostat from the parts store described my experience perfectly, so I took and chance, and ordered the special "skirted" thermostat as a replacement. (No one had one in stock) When I did the work, sure enough, it had a regular open thermostat installed. Essentially, when new, fresh, and clean, the open thermostat will get you by for a little while, (still on the hot side) but as the antifreeze, the engine, and the radiator gunk up, it will no longer suffice and eventually overheat.

I JUST did the work yesterday... testing in the driveway, seemed to solve the problem. First real test will be tomorrow when I drive it back to the racetrack campground. But... if you have tried everything else, might want to look into this as well.

I have the Dodge 318 engine. I never had the overheating problem until this year. Am going to replace the Thermostat and flush the system a few times with and without the thermostat.

[eyeteeth]

What motor do you have? I have not seen it listed. Here is what I recently ran into...

When I first bought my RV... third or fourth hand... it ran waaaaay hot... overheated on the way home, etc. Once home, we didn't drive it much as we use it as base camp when racing, and it typically stays in the campground. We remodeled it... then rebuilt the engine. Had the Radiator rebuilt shortly after. Still, always ran on the hot side but tolerable. This year it started running 'too' hot again, So I started investigating and eventually decided to replace the thermostat. Because nothing else has been cut and dry in my experience, I did some research. Sure enough... the Thermostat in my RV motor was 'special' and does not come up in the listing for the engine. There was supposedly a sticker at one time on the air cleaner explaining this, but it has been long gone. The descriptions of what happens with the 'wrong' or recommended Thermostat from the parts store described my experience perfectly, so I took and chance, and ordered the special "skirted" thermostat as a replacement. (No one had one in stock) When I did the work, sure enough, it had a regular open thermostat installed. Essentially, when new, fresh, and clean, the open thermostat will get you by for a little while, (still on the hot side) but as the antifreeze, the engine, and the radiator gunk up, it will no longer suffice and eventually overheat.

I JUST did the work yesterday... testing in the driveway, seemed to solve the problem. First real test will be tomorrow when I drive it back to the racetrack campground. But... if you have tried everything else, might want to look into this as well.

[booster]

eric1514 wrote:

wcjeep wrote:

x2 Fan Clutch? An infrared heat gun is great at troubleshooting. The cheap ones are $25. The cheap ones will likely be off by 2 or 3 degrees. Not a big deal in this scenario. Don't forget to use the infrared heat gun to verify the brakes are not dragging.

What's a heat gun going to tell him that he doesn't already know, that is, the engine is overheating. I'll grant you, they are great for brake issues like you mentioned, but hot engines?:h

The most important thing the temperature gun can tell you is in and out hose temperatures of the radiator. If there is a very large difference, you might have reduced flow do to stuck thermostat or plugged up passages in the engine or radiator. If the temperatures of the hoses are close together, you probably have a reduced airflow to the radiator.

You used to be able to use the gun to check for hot and cold spots on the radiator, but now you can't often get to the radiator well enough because of condensers and shrouds.

[eric1514]

wcjeep wrote:

x2 Fan Clutch? An infrared heat gun is great at troubleshooting. The cheap ones are $25. The cheap ones will likely be off by 2 or 3 degrees. Not a big deal in this scenario. Don't forget to use the infrared heat gun to verify the brakes are not dragging.

What's a heat gun going to tell him that he doesn't already know, that is, the engine is overheating. I'll grant you, they are great for brake issues like you mentioned, but hot engines?:h

[wcjeep]

the bear II wrote:
For several years it seemed like I would not be able to solve my overheating problem. I went through the usual suspects (new thermostat, fan clutch, hoses..etc) still had the problem.

Sometimes it would overheat and other times it wouldn't under the same conditions.

It turned out the new fan clutch I had installed went bad. Since it was a new one, I didn't think to check it. Apparently, it was engaging sometimes but eventually failed completely. I found a heavy duty aftermarket unit and haven't had a heating problem since.

x2 Fan Clutch? An infrared heat gun is great at troubleshooting. The cheap ones are $25. The cheap ones will likely be off by 2 or 3 degrees. Not a big deal in this scenario. Don't forget to use the infrared heat gun to verify the brakes are not dragging.

[Fastpaddler]

Diesel engines tend to heat up more than gas ones. If the hill is long and "sloping" it might increase by 20 degrees or so but not into red. Downshifting helps anyway on long, steep hills for all engines. I had a V10 which overheated on long hills.Certainly, a well maintained cooling system helps a lot. In my experience all/all engines heat up on long hills and even though people say NO, it happens. My 5 series BMW oil temp gauge(no water temp on them) goes up on the long and steep Cocquihalla highway to Kamloops BC.

[AsheGuy]

If your radiator has never been professionally flushed, that would be the first thing that I would do (as mentioned already).

I doubt your's has an electric fan, but (as also has been mentioned) if it does it would be a prime candidate.

The fact that it heats up going up hills indicates that the cooling system just isn't up to par. A loaded vehicle going up a hill in warmer weather is the test for all cooling systems. That is about the only condition that makes the cooling fan come on in our Sprinter unless we are in really hot weather.

[the_bear_II]

For several years it seemed like I would not be able to solve my overheating problem. I went through the usual suspects (new thermostat, fan clutch, hoses..etc) still had the problem.

Sometimes it would overheat and other times it wouldn't under the same conditions.

It turned out the new fan clutch I had installed went bad. Since it was a new one, I didn't think to check it. Apparently, it was engaging sometimes but eventually failed completely. I found a heavy duty aftermarket unit and haven't had a heating problem since.

I also added a product from Royal Purple. It's called "Wetter Water". You can get it at most auto supply locations or online. As advertised it kept my engine temp at nearly 20 degrees lower than when I didn't use it. It really works... I've used it in three different vehicles.

[mabynack]

What make of vehicle? Diesel or gas? How old is it? What does the engine oil look like? It is black or milky? Do you get white smoke when you're going up hill?

Your best bet is to go to a good shop and have them test the cooling system. They can do a pressure check on the cooling system and check the radiator cap. A bad radiator cap can cause overheating.

Radiators get clogged with rust and casting sand and won't flow enough coolant. If the thermostat sticks open the coolant doesn't stay in the radiator long enough to cool. Hoses can collapse and not flow coolant. Electric thermostats that control the fans can go out. There's a dozen possibilities.

[thriftydutch]

It usually overheats when going up hill. Never had a problem last year in the eastern US but the problem started in May going and coming from the rally in North Carolina. The hill does not have to be very big. Can be long sloping.