overheating
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overheating
everytime i pull a boat or small camper of about 1600 pounds , after about 5 miles temp gauge pegs and idiot light comes on. ac blows cool not cold air. help me girl friends needs cold air.
Posting Guru
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From: Hernando Ms
You are going to have to supply more info....What year,what motor,How many miles showing, automatic or standard,mods etc....Cooling issues can be from anything such as a simple sticking thermostat,to bad fan clutch.......
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Joined: Jan 2010
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Could be a number of things...Thermostat, radiator, lower rad hose, water pump, fan clutch, etc...
You mentioned the AC is cool but not cold, that leads me to believe it could be your fan clutch. If it's not working properly and not pulling enough air through the condenser and radiator, then that leads to overheating and cool but not cold air. Is your AC substantially colder when you're going 55mph versus stopped at a stop light?
You mentioned idiot light...Did you pull any codes by chance? Could be simple "overheating related", but you never know what else could be triggering it.
You mentioned the AC is cool but not cold, that leads me to believe it could be your fan clutch. If it's not working properly and not pulling enough air through the condenser and radiator, then that leads to overheating and cool but not cold air. Is your AC substantially colder when you're going 55mph versus stopped at a stop light?
You mentioned idiot light...Did you pull any codes by chance? Could be simple "overheating related", but you never know what else could be triggering it.
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Joined: Jun 2009
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Does the A/C and everything seem to work fine without towing? If so, then the reason can be that you have a coolant flow problem (assuming your coolant is fresh and topped off). This would be due to the extra load factor. Under normal load there is enough flow or cooling to maintain normal temps (but without a real digital reading you don't know if it is running at around 220 degrees instead of 195 to 200 all the time anyway).
As stated above it could be the fan clutch assembly. With the engine warmed up, turn the engine off and then reach down and try and turn the fan assembly by hand. If the clutch is engaging, then you should not be able to turn it easily. If it free spins or turns easily, bad fan clutch.
If fan clutch checks out I would start by installing a new thermostat and do a complete flush and refill if this has not been done in a while. If that does not help, then you may have a partially clogged radiator. You would have to remove and have it professionally checked.
To do a good flush and fill here is my proceedure.
1. Remove upper radiator hose and thermostat.
2. Disconnect lower radiator hose from radiator.
3. Disconnect heater hose from top of intake manifold.
4. Take a hose pipe and flush out the entire system with water. Flushing water thru the heater core via the heater hose, flushing the engine down thru the thermostat housing, flushing the radiator from top hose connection.
5. Take air hose and blow air thru heater core to push out water, blow down thru thermostat housing to blow out water.
6. Reconnect everything and install new thermostat.
7. Verify total coolant system capacity from your owners manual (lets assume for discussion it is a 24 quart system). That means that the total system (engine block, heater core, radiator, hoses, etc... holds 6 gallons of coolant and water).
8. We all know that there is no way to remove all the water from the engine block. So, start by pouring 3 gallons fo pure antifreeze (not the 50/50 mix) into the system (if you can even get 3 gallons in there). Then top off with water. This will give you a 50/50 mix. I have found that rarely can you get 1/2 the total system amount back in due to water remaining in the block. If you use 50/50 pre-mix and you get 3 gallons back in - your only running 25% antifreeze since the rest is water.
Good luck.
As stated above it could be the fan clutch assembly. With the engine warmed up, turn the engine off and then reach down and try and turn the fan assembly by hand. If the clutch is engaging, then you should not be able to turn it easily. If it free spins or turns easily, bad fan clutch.
If fan clutch checks out I would start by installing a new thermostat and do a complete flush and refill if this has not been done in a while. If that does not help, then you may have a partially clogged radiator. You would have to remove and have it professionally checked.
To do a good flush and fill here is my proceedure.
1. Remove upper radiator hose and thermostat.
2. Disconnect lower radiator hose from radiator.
3. Disconnect heater hose from top of intake manifold.
4. Take a hose pipe and flush out the entire system with water. Flushing water thru the heater core via the heater hose, flushing the engine down thru the thermostat housing, flushing the radiator from top hose connection.
5. Take air hose and blow air thru heater core to push out water, blow down thru thermostat housing to blow out water.
6. Reconnect everything and install new thermostat.
7. Verify total coolant system capacity from your owners manual (lets assume for discussion it is a 24 quart system). That means that the total system (engine block, heater core, radiator, hoses, etc... holds 6 gallons of coolant and water).
8. We all know that there is no way to remove all the water from the engine block. So, start by pouring 3 gallons fo pure antifreeze (not the 50/50 mix) into the system (if you can even get 3 gallons in there). Then top off with water. This will give you a 50/50 mix. I have found that rarely can you get 1/2 the total system amount back in due to water remaining in the block. If you use 50/50 pre-mix and you get 3 gallons back in - your only running 25% antifreeze since the rest is water.
Good luck.
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Joined: Aug 2010
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Thank you for the tip
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Does the A/C and everything seem to work fine without towing? If so, then the reason can be that you have a coolant flow problem (assuming your coolant is fresh and topped off). This would be due to the extra load factor. Under normal load there is enough flow or cooling to maintain normal temps (but without a real digital reading you don't know if it is running at around 220 degrees instead of 195 to 200 all the time anyway).
As stated above it could be the fan clutch assembly. With the engine warmed up, turn the engine off and then reach down and try and turn the fan assembly by hand. If the clutch is engaging, then you should not be able to turn it easily. If it free spins or turns easily, bad fan clutch.
If fan clutch checks out I would start by installing a new thermostat and do a complete flush and refill if this has not been done in a while. If that does not help, then you may have a partially clogged radiator. You would have to remove and have it professionally checked.
To do a good flush and fill here is my proceedure.
1. Remove upper radiator hose and thermostat.
2. Disconnect lower radiator hose from radiator.
3. Disconnect heater hose from top of intake manifold.
4. Take a hose pipe and flush out the entire system with water. Flushing water thru the heater core via the heater hose, flushing the engine down thru the thermostat housing, flushing the radiator from top hose connection.
5. Take air hose and blow air thru heater core to push out water, blow down thru thermostat housing to blow out water.
6. Reconnect everything and install new thermostat.
7. Verify total coolant system capacity from your owners manual (lets assume for discussion it is a 24 quart system). That means that the total system (engine block, heater core, radiator, hoses, etc... holds 6 gallons of coolant and water).
8. We all know that there is no way to remove all the water from the engine block. So, start by pouring 3 gallons fo pure antifreeze (not the 50/50 mix) into the system (if you can even get 3 gallons in there). Then top off with water. This will give you a 50/50 mix. I have found that rarely can you get 1/2 the total system amount back in due to water remaining in the block. If you use 50/50 pre-mix and you get 3 gallons back in - your only running 25% antifreeze since the rest is water.
Good luck.
As stated above it could be the fan clutch assembly. With the engine warmed up, turn the engine off and then reach down and try and turn the fan assembly by hand. If the clutch is engaging, then you should not be able to turn it easily. If it free spins or turns easily, bad fan clutch.
If fan clutch checks out I would start by installing a new thermostat and do a complete flush and refill if this has not been done in a while. If that does not help, then you may have a partially clogged radiator. You would have to remove and have it professionally checked.
To do a good flush and fill here is my proceedure.
1. Remove upper radiator hose and thermostat.
2. Disconnect lower radiator hose from radiator.
3. Disconnect heater hose from top of intake manifold.
4. Take a hose pipe and flush out the entire system with water. Flushing water thru the heater core via the heater hose, flushing the engine down thru the thermostat housing, flushing the radiator from top hose connection.
5. Take air hose and blow air thru heater core to push out water, blow down thru thermostat housing to blow out water.
6. Reconnect everything and install new thermostat.
7. Verify total coolant system capacity from your owners manual (lets assume for discussion it is a 24 quart system). That means that the total system (engine block, heater core, radiator, hoses, etc... holds 6 gallons of coolant and water).
8. We all know that there is no way to remove all the water from the engine block. So, start by pouring 3 gallons fo pure antifreeze (not the 50/50 mix) into the system (if you can even get 3 gallons in there). Then top off with water. This will give you a 50/50 mix. I have found that rarely can you get 1/2 the total system amount back in due to water remaining in the block. If you use 50/50 pre-mix and you get 3 gallons back in - your only running 25% antifreeze since the rest is water.
Good luck.
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