My buddy, who has a 1990 5 speed 4x4, Cummins completely stock, told me his truck gets very hot pulling his 30 foot camping trailer up a grade...and it's starting to worry him. And he says if he looses momentum, he is stuck at 30 mph until he hits the summit.

My 93 5 speed NEVER overheats,..the temperature behaves no matter what I do. And it seems to always more than enough power (my trailer only weighs 3 tons..I think his weighs more) no matter where I am going or what it's pulling (I swear it doesn't know a trailer is back there).. So I was thinking we had identicle trucks. But now I'm not sure.

The only thing I can find in the forums is that the original water pumps were superceded with one that had a better impeller.
I also found someone that said the oem radiators were crap (but I think mine is OEM...so what gives?"

OK, Just looking for info. I have emailed the dtr site to my friend so he can personally join and research this stuf for himself. I explained to him that in the few years I have belonged to this site,..that Dodge is the last place I will ever have either of my trucks at. It can be done better, quicker, and cheaper by someone who is willing to do a little research and let other folks who had the same problem give them a few opinions and answers.

Any idea's on his problem would be appreciated. I know that in the last few days he had a 4 inch exhaust put on hoping to help the problem.

 

intercooled trucks had a cross flow rad.and was 70% larger my 90 had a heating issue untill i did the intercooled rad. swap

 

Is there any kind of fab for it or will any 1st gen intercooled radiator bolt up?

 

there are a few way to do it

ON mine I just used a IC rad made 2 upper supports and a BB gas motor shroud and new upper hose

the 2 center core support bolts need to be ground down 1/4 that was the cheep way!

or you can get new fan,hub, rad., tstat housing ,stock shroud ,upper supports.and hose. I think its about $700 to do this way new if you can get the parts.

 

Yeah my 91 non intercooled truck(non cross flow radiator) has a coolent heat problem, when i'm trying to pull a big hill with my car and trailer.

Thing i have done to help with my problem.
My radiator shroud is warped and i have seal it back up with some foam strips to make the fan pull air thru the radiator and not between the shroud and the radiator.
replace my t-state(Because it wouldn't shut.....winter time)and fan hub or fan clutch.

It has helped my problem, but did not fix it.

I thing this will be my next project on truck. Just can't decide weather to go with a first gen Cross flow radiator or a 2nt Gen to match my intercooler?????
Nether one will be a bolt in.......but the first gen, cross flow would take a lot less work to get in there.


Flash.

 

my 91 with non cross flow doesnt really get hot, as long as I remember to take the cardboard out from in front of the radiator.

 

his is an automatic they send a lot more heat to the rad.

changing the TC helps remove heat too

 

I just found out my friends is a '92 that has a heating problem (I thought it was a 90 when I did this post, but I just spoke to his wife and I was wrong) . Mine, as I said, is a 93, and it doesn't ever get hot.

Does that change any of your answers.
I don't even know what an intercooler is or a cross flow radiator. But I do know that neither my 93 or my 24V ever have a heating problem when I'm towing.

 

Make sure the fins on the intercooler (looks like a second radiator, only it comes from the turbo and goes to the air intake) and radiator have no gunk or dirt, bugs, etc in them.

Verify the overheat problem with a mechanical gauge.

Flush the entire cooling system with a good rust/ scale remover. Most people think that as long as you have freeze protection, you are ok. Freeze protection is the last thing to go- corrosion inhibitors and water pump lubricants deplete much sooner.

Make sure no one has added the supplemental coolant additives needed on the V8 pickup diesels. These will clog the Cummins water passages.

Check the air filter, fuel filter, etc.

I had no issues running my nonIC truck without a shroud (IC radiator, though), pulling, empty, whatever.

Daniel

 

91 1/2 up had cross flows he might need to rod out his rad and if its an auto it also dumps a bunch of heat in to the rad. a good TC will lower heat but for the most part the cross flows are way better he needs to check his fan clutch. t stat and cap. and he might need to rod out the rad. 5 speeds dont heat up

 

My friends is a 5 speed like mine.
Has over 100K on it.
Mine has 94K. One year different.

 

i had to up grade my 90 went to the cross flow dropped temp one full mark on the dash gauge.

 

Went through the same thing with my '92. It was frustrating to say the least! First, check that the fan clutch is good and working the way it's supposed to. I went through 3 new ones (Autozone) to get a good one. It should make an audible roar when it locks up. If you can't hear it, replace it. If you don't know what you're supposed to hear (as I did in the beginning), block the radiator with cardboard, run the engine at a fast idle and watch your temperature gage. You will either hear it or it's bad. Also, I dumped a jug of Greased Lightning in the weed sprayer and shot it through the radiator (truck turned off), left it sit 5-10 minutes and rinsed it out with hot water. The crap came rolling out of it. I no longer have any overheating problems.