This truck seems to build a lot of temp when towing. My 04.5 never had a problem. With this truck this last weekend towing my toy hauler at about 10k loaded up with another ATV in the bed, I saw 230 on about a 5% grade with ambient air temps around 88 degrees with cruise set on 65 MPH. Had tow/haul mode on. My 04.5 never saw more than 215. Not sure if this is normal or not for these trucks with all of the environmental "improvements". Fan comes on right at 217 and will usually help but it didn't this time it came right back down once I crested the hill but sheesh 230 is pretty warm. Altitude is around 7k feet where this took place although I've had similar heat issues at lower altitude.

What are you guys seeing?

 

Yeah, this freaked me out too. My 09' never got hot and the fan clutch seemed to kick on earlier. I have seen hotter temps with the 12', 225° pulling 13k lbs over Homestake Pass in MT.

 

Homestake is about 50 miles from where i live. I know it well. I have to take mine back to the dealer for a frost plug leak so I will mention my high water temp issues and see what they have to say. Maybe I have a Friday truck.

 

I have seen 225 on mine before it was deleted. Haven't pull hard enough after deletes to give an honest answer.
Thinking hard about going to a 180deg t stat. It almost seems like the t-stat and fan-stat are too close together and the water temp runs wild till the fan gets a handle on it.

 

I agree with that. Once the temp starts rising the fan finally comes on at 217 but the temp over runs the heck out of it before the fan can bring it back down. I sure don't like all that water temp. I hate to delete this truck as it has plenty of power and is nice and quiet. I don't care about mileage because a prius ain't going to pull my trailers and I ain't walking. There are a lot of these trucks around so I will see what the dealer has been doing to rectify it if anything. I'll report back after the visit. Might be a week or two though.

 

Subscribed.
Those temps seem high. Mine rarely breaks 210.

 

Seen 225 on mine with the fan kicking on at 217. summer time southern Cal LA area. but mostly it runs 205 to 219 fan brings it right back down

 

My 2012 5500 was doing the same thing with 20k behind it. I took it to the dealer without the trailer and they couldn't replicate it.
I took it back a week later with a trailer and made the mechanic plug in and go for a ride. He saw the problem and replaced my fan clutch.

 

Good to know, thanks.

 

On my 2005, I have a manual viscous fan switch. Allows me to lock up the fan when ever I desire.

Maybe you could do the same in order to get the fan engaged before the temps climb

My guess why they climb is due to the tranny fluid temp, I assume the coolant and tranny fluid have a heat exchanger between the too of them like in the third GEN

 

My tranny temp has never gone above 190 during these escapades. My truck has dual trans and engine oil coolers installed from the max tow package.

Interesting reading about the new trucks though. Here is a quote from the RAM Trucks web site.
"COOLING EFFICIENCY
With a high-efficiency fan system, dual radiators and dual transmission coolers, our available Cummins® Turbo Diesel engine provides 25% more heat-rejection capacity, enabling enhanced diesel towing capability." http://www.ramtrucks.com/groundbreakers/#engine click the cummins option and then the cooling efficiency +
Makes me confident they have had issues cooling this engine.

I have an appointment next Thursday at 9:00 AM for the frost plug leak on the side of the block. I also mentioned to the service guy that my truck builds high temps. He says these trucks run hot due to their ignition systems. I paused for a long time on that answer and then said I was pretty sure that wasn't it. Stay tuned. Maybe I'll drive away in a 2014 and leave this one there. lol

 

Living in the desert southwest we see ambient temps of 110+. I try not towing in those conditions but it's not always avoidable. I hear the fan at about 217 but temps still climb to 220 or so and seem to remain in that range on the long grades. Cools off when the grade eases up. So far no issues with 135,000 but I'm always listening for that fan!

 

Ok, so just got off the phone with the dealer. The leaking coolant is coming from the hose just behind the turbo. Seems we went full circle on this one. I had to fix dad's 06 with the famous coolant leak. Now it seems they are at it again. Same kind of fix too. A little piece of hose with different clamps.

We talked at length about the coolant heat issue too. According to Chrysler/Cummins it's an emissions thing. Evidently there are lots of things that dictate whether or not the fan comes on and how high the temp will go. 230 is supposed to be the max normal operating temp. If the temp is heating up outside of the normal operation or emission control then you will get subsequent warnings in the EVIC and limp mode will come on until the truck cools down. Bottom line is they said hammer down and don't worry about it. I said that's what I plan to do.

I think I like my truck again.

 

The thermostat is a 200° model, which is cracking temp. It won't be full open until around ±217° (think fan temp). Most Cummins thermostats have a max operating temp of about +20° above the full open temp. I wouldn't start to worry until 235°.

The 200° thermostat is on MY 10-12 (don't know about '13).

03-09 has a 190° thermostat, full open at 207°, max allowed 225°.

Hope that helps.

 

So not only did my 5500 have a bad fan clutch but I got my 2500 truck back from the dealer yesterday (AC would not work at Idle) and guess what. Fan clutch was bad. Gotta love a dodge. Motor last forever if they could find parts to surround that motor. No worries. I deleted it today and went up 8mpg. For those wondering. 206 on water temp no trailer with bad fan clutch on my 2500 now on a 90+ degree day seeing 197