dogfish

During the 90+ degree heat towing a trailer in town, stop and go traffic for about 5 minutes, parked but let it run for about five minutes and then drove back across town about 10-15 minutes. Temperature pegged at 240 degrees. Last summer driving up and down hilly gravel road(no trailer) for about 20 minutes, 90+ degree heat. Temperature pegged at 240 degrees. There were other incidents last summer of no trailer, stop and go around town and 90+ degree temperatures where it was heating up fast. Radiator flushed 1 - 1 1/2 years ago. Replaced thermostat this last winter because it wasn't heating up at all.

Today when it pegged I couldn't get out of traffic right away so when I pulled into my shop I lifted the hood and ran a little water over the valve cover and down the right hand side of the motor. Topped off the radiator fluid and let it sit for about 20 minutes and then drove home about 5 minutes.

When it was parked(engine off) at my shop I noticed the reverse lights were on. It's sitting in front of my house right now with both batteries completely disconnected and the reverse lights are still on!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What the ...?

First, is my water pump going bad or something? What could be causing the overheating problem? Second, what is the story with my reverse lights????

crobtex

Do you drive very much on dusty roads or in fields? If you do, you may need to flush you radiator from the back side. Also, re-routing your breather hose will help keep the radiator clean.

Also, I would go to a Cummins dealer and get a new 180* thermostat.

What I back flush my radiator with:

dogfish

Yes, I'm a builder and with the drought were in here in WNC many of the building sites I am on are very dusty. Backwashing the radiator is something my dad suggested.

I can get a 180 degree thermostat from the Chrysler dealership right? What is the difference between it and the one I got from the auto parts store?

I'm still getting familiar with the parts of my truck. Which one is the breather hose and where would I re-route it?

Any thoughts about the reverse lights? I removed the fuse and replaced it. I finally just removed the bulbs so that the neighbors wouldn't keep stopping by to let me know my lights are on. This was after it sat for about 2-3 hours with the lights still on! The batteries have been disconnected the whole time. Where is the power coming from?

crobtex

The 180* thermostats from Cummins are much better built than the ones from parts stores. If you get it from a Dodge dealer, be sure it is in a Cummins box. About $30 from Cummins, but worth it.

The crank case breather hose is the one on the front of the engine on the drivers side. I used a PVC union to run a piece of solvent resistant hose down and over the suspension to just behind the cab. I also put an "L" on the end to point it at the ground.

As far as the lights.......no idea.........call an exorcists.

BigIron70

Make sure your cluch fan is working, should hear it come on when temperature comes up to operating temp. With the engine off see if there is any resistance in fan clutch when you spin it. If it just free wheels it's most likely shot. Drain some coolant out and look into radiator is it plugged up? After shutting off feel radiator coils across entire radiator, is the temperature even or do you feel cold spots. If you have cold spots most likely plugged radiator.
Stuck backup lite switch on trans will keep lites on. Replace switch.

dogfish

I appreciate your feed back. Y'all are making a lot of sense. The stuck transmission switch makes good sense too but would the lights stay on even if the batteries were disconnected? Where's the power coming from?

BigIron70

That is really weird, do you have a camper on truck with aux battery? Has to be getting power from somewhere. Are you sure you pulled both negative cables?

dogfish

Nope, no camper. All battery cables removed, not touching terminals, etc.

Palmetto_kid

You poured cold tap water on your hot engine? I have always been advised against this. Been told it was a good way to induce cracking.

My FIL went through this not too long ago with his '02. He told about his problem, and that he thought it was the fan clutch. I used to own a 24valve, and advised him of the puke bottle, and the possibilty of a plugged up radiator. I also told him to re-route the breather, and throw the puke bottle away. He cleaned out his radiator, and was amazed at the gunk he washed out. He was very happy with the results, but changed the fan clutch anyway.

His problem started when he went to pick up his new travel trailer about 100 miles away. He had to limp home becuase of overheating as you stated. Well, after cleaning his radiator/new fan clutch, he pulled his new T/T about 250 miles with no overheating problems at all!

I personally think his fan clutch was fine. I had asked him if he could hear it come on, and he said he never heard it. But he has been running heavy equipment all his life, and cant hear much anyway.

If I was you, before I bought any parts, I would clean the radiator out, and re-route the breather tube first. If that doesnt help, I would buy a new thermostat from Cummins and install it. (good time to change antifreeze).

later later

Stamey

Lot of good info on the overheating issue so I'll address the backup lights. The lights should certainly go off if the ignition is off, but it is receiving power from someplace else. With the condition happening, unplug the reverse light switch on the transmission. It will be on the left side, near the shifter lever in the transmission. The actual switch is a screw-in unit, like an oil-pressure sending unit, that has a socket on the end for the harness to connect to.
If you unplug the switch and the lights remain on, your BCM (Body Control Module) is the problem. I do not know that these units can be repaired so replacement is the likely solution. I'd try to get it from a junk yard rather than the dealer. You will probably find it behind a kick panel. The one under the hood, on the right side, is the PCM, not the one we are talking about.

Chris

dogfish

Overheating problem continued today. Going into the shop tomorrow. An independent diesel mechanic who I've never used before(not many in this area in the first place). Hoping for a good experience.

The reverse lights! I realized after y'all were asking about batteries that the dump trailer I was towing has a battery in it! I don't own a dump trailer so I rent one when I need to. Somewhere in the back of my over-stuffed mind I know the dumping mechanism operates off of a battery but I never considered that the power source would be coming from the trailer battery running backwards through the trailer wire harness! I unplugged the trailer and voila! the lights went out! Apparently they had re-wired the trailer wire harness recently and goofed something up. Mother******!