Thought I'd chime in. I have an '02 and the temp gauge has always fluctuated since day one. Seems to do so more in winter. These things have a huge coolant capacity and when the thermostat cycles, the gauge will fluctuate. It doesn't appear to be a problem and I don't even pay much attention to it! just my .02. ;D

 

OK Pappyman, what you're saying seems logical. This will give me an excuse to go out and buy a bigger sheet of some kind of plastic. I will get something that is exactly the size of the cooling area of the radiator and cut a hole in the middle. Di you have any siuggestions on how large the hole should be? Maybe I should just figure on cutting a hole 1/3 the area of the radiator? Does it need to be round or will square, but centered, be OK?<br><br>Thanks,<br>Chris

 

Stamey, no need to get real fancy..... ;D<br>When my winter fronts aren't enough, I cut a piece of cardboard 36&quot; X 21&quot; from a refrigerator box, cut a 6&quot; circular hole in the center, then slip it between the radiator and the charge air cooler when it gets real *****cold*****.<br>I figure that the cardboard is not as likely to wear away at the radiator fins.

 

[quote author=Stamey link=board=4;threadid=8579;start=15#85924 date=1041203051]<br>OK Pappyman, what you're saying seems logical. This will give me an excuse to go out and buy a bigger sheet of some kind of plastic. I will get something that is exactly the size of the cooling area of the radiator and cut a hole in the middle. Di you have any siuggestions on how large the hole should be? Maybe I should just figure on cutting a hole 1/3 the area of the radiator? Does it need to be round or will square, but centered, be OK?<br><br>Thanks,<br>Chris<br>[/quote]<br><br>Chris....On the CTD's the fan dont engauge that offen durning cold weather a 4-6&quot; circle in the center works fine...if your running too hot just make a bigger circle<br><br>I have a friend that works with stainless steel he said he would make me some grill inserts to use as a winter front as soon as the holidays are over...it will beat the piece of cardboard I use now ;D

 

Well, I don't plan to be fancy about it, I just want to get feedback from others with experience before I go forward. <br><br>The original stop-gap solution, which worked well, was the plastic sign. It has held up well and I'd keep using it, until I heard about Pappyman's experience. Now I will go to the hardware store and buy myself a piece of shower stall plastic, you know those sheets you put up on the wall when you don't have tile, or a fiberglass shower stall? I use plastic instead of cardboard because it will hold up to rain, etc. I will cut it rectangular to the dimensions of the radiator cooling area, 36&quot; x 20&quot;. I will then cut a hole in the center. The hole will be square, 12&quot; x 12&quot;, to expose 144 square inches, or 20% of the cooling area.<br><br>Yeah, I'll bet this is sounding elaborate by now, but it is simple, and I don't get any fun out of inventing unless can I think about it and do a few calculations. <br><br>I'll probably have some extra plastic since I think it only comes in 8' sheets. Anyone need a winter front? <br><br>Chris

 

WAAM, I have a01 2500 td temp fluctuates. As stated the thermostat is the culprit. In your address box, enter dodgeram.info then click on tech. service bulletins enter vehicle year open 09-engines read T S B-09-008-02 this may help you and any body else this is a list of T S B for all years Also note T S B-09-004-01 &quot;important&quot;

 

More myths more confusion, pappyman is partially right. ON another post pertaining to this problem we talked about cold fronts, covering the whole radiator is not going to break fan blades but allowing air to enter the fan area offset from center will. The reason for the hole at center is to cool the fanstat which is the little curly spring in the center of the hub and allows even pressure on the fan blades. by doing this fan recieves cold air and wont kick in. Large trucks had high rate of fan/hub failures due to drivers putting in cardboard where ever it would fit(usually falls to bottom when truck is turned off ) therefore putting offset stress on hub and blades causing uneven flexing of blades and side torque on hub bearings. Putting the cold front directly on rad will reduce amount of available air for fan to pull and there will be &quot;less&quot; stress on fan blades if even pressure. Like previously stated if you preheat 5 gallons of coolant to 190F and then introduce coolant exposed to 0 F you want your guage to move, thermostat is not defective but doing its job but does not know coolant in rad is 100-170 degrees cooler when it opens.PK