I've been having an overheating problem. I'm 99% sure my fan clutch is bad, so I'm going to replace it. But then I got to thinking about the problem.

My truck gets really hot (180*-230*) in ambient temps of 60* or less with no load and simple highway driving. I don't know why, but that didn't strike me as weird until last night. So I took the plastic shroud off of of the front of the engine and took some pictures of what I found.

I don't know what is supposed to be there, but I found 4 different coolers. You'll also notice that the front one and the little one at the bottom are beat to heck. I was to to check for things like that when I bought the truck but I KNOW I didn't do that to them. Come to think of it, I don't have a clue how you would beat them up like that. It looks like they were in an accident.

So, I need some clarification on what the heck these are and if I should replace the ones that are beat up. I can take more pictures if you need to see more.

I am going to do a radiator flush and clean the outside of the radiator next weekend. I think that will fix the problem of it getting hot too fast.

 

The big black one in the front looks like your A/C condenser, and the small one looks like the PS cooler, Im not completly positive on the small one. They do look beat up but shouldnt have anything to do with your engine temp.

 

I just ran out to my truck to be sure what I told you was right, I am. My A/C condenser itsnt in great shape either, better than yours but not by a lot. I have no idea how your power steering cooler got so bad my truck is an 01 and it looks brand new.

 

I can't imagine what the previous owner had to do to it to get it to look that bad. The only thing i could think of is and accident, which my truck has supposedly never been in.

That leaves the transmission cooler and the radiator, right?

 

It doesnt look like an accident, nothing is bent or broken, those fins bend eaisly, who knows what happend.
Your intercooler is the big aluminum one in the middle picture, which from the picture looks ok, as long as theres no holes in it.
The only thing left after all that is the trans cooler, and radiator.

 

After further examination, it's no wonder they get so hot. They are both crammed full of stuff. I think i'll be taking those off and doing a very thorough clean next weekend.

 

They make a tool I dont know the name of it or where to get get one but you can you it to straighten out those fins. Your best bet would be to call a HVAC shop because I believe its the same tool used to straighten out the fins on a A/C unit.

 

I usually power wash mine threw the grill, if you go that route just be carefull. Your on the right track if there cramed with crap it may even lead to higher EGTs because a lack of air flow. Do you have gauges? If so what do you see on your EGT guage crusing around 60-70 empty?

 

You say 180*-230* but that is not really hot! 230 is getting there though. Mine runs at 180-190 all day long as I have a 185 degree T-Stat for the cooling.

Am I assuming you are not talking coolant temps, but transmission temps?

You should have a smaller cooler between the condensor and the radiator. That is the transmission cooler. I do not see it in your pictures, but is between them.

 

YouTube - Condenser Fin Comb Training
Found you a video hopefully this will help and save you a few $$

 

Hes talking about coolant temps., if his trans got to 230* he would need a new trans. by now.
What makes you 99% sure your fan clutch is bad?

 

Not really. If the fluid gets to 225, you should get out of it and pull over to let it cool. With modern fluids, you can go higher than that but it is not recommended. 250* is when the factory gauge goes into the yellow.

He mentions 180* as hot and that is normal for all intense purposes. That is why I ask for clarification.

 

I guess I should clarify. I have and edge chip that only read the oil temps through the OBDII. So I'm not reading coolant temp, which may be leading me in the wrong direction. I began to notice my problem when I looked down one day and my stock coolant temp gauge was almost to the red line. At that point my trans temp read 203 and my oil temp read 235.

Real gauges are on my list, but you all know how short money is, I have to make sure the thing runs properly before I can justify toys. (Much less to the Wife!)

I'm 99% sure the fan clutch is bad because when i got it up to that temp, there was no roar, which was why i was shocked when it overheated. i thought it worked.

I asked about it in another thread and was told that I need to get it that hot again and try to turn the fan by hand. I haven't had time to do that, but I'm going to make time this next weekend.

 

Have you looked into the thermostat sticking? That would cause it to get to that temp.

 

That's a sweet tool! I'm gonna have to check that out.