Is it normal for the Cummins to run at around 200-220 degrees under the following circumstances: Temp's in the 90's, no load or towing, '02 auto with 85,000 miles, AEM intake, 4" straight exhaust, Hypertech on stage 3 but no guages. This only happens going up hills then comes back to 180-190 downhill. My assumpion was possible LP going bad and not getting enough fuel, running lean? Kinda new to diesels, I know, I know, guages are on the way but tell me about normal operating range of temps. for the Cummins...thanks!

 

hummm, may be a tad warm. but by no means anything to worry about. your radiator may be clogged (crankcase breather, lots of info on that here) it overflows and gets in the rad and heats up the motor. Easy fix. But i wouldnt worry about it now if i were you. If you go to tow or haul something though, i would clean it out

 

Change the thermostat & clean the radiator.

 

[QUOTE=1882]Is it normal for the Cummins to run at around 200-220 degrees under the following circumstances: Temp's in the 90's, no load or towing, '02 auto with 85,000 miles, AEM intake, 4" straight exhaust, Hypertech on stage 3 but no guages. This only happens going up hills then comes back to 180-190 downhill. My assumpion was possible LP going bad and not getting enough fuel, running lean? Kinda new to diesels, I know, I know, guages are on the way but tell me about normal operating range of temps. for the Cummins...thanks![
/QUOTE]

I have pretty much the same set up and i usually only get to 190 when going up a bridge fast or 85 or 90 on interstate then back to 170to180 but i keep my raditator clean from bugs and grime.this helps alot .this nothing to do with the lp . dieselfan

 

Sounds normal. YOU REALLY NEED GAUGES! It's foolish to run any sort of programmer/box upgrade with out them. It will tell you a lot about what's going on in your motor.

 

I completely agree, they're on the way! Any advice on a good place to get the whole setup?

 

My truck would heat up to 200+ on a hill (unloaded) or with the AC on - until I pulled the radiator and cleaned it out (as well as the other two cooling units in front of it) - the heating problem disappeared

 

Diesels run COOLER when runnin lean, not hotter (opposite of gasser). In fact, EGT is a measure of fuel ratio, the richer you run, the higher the EGT, all else being equal.

The first thing you should do is relocate your puke bottle and clean off the gunk on the back of the radiator using a good degreaser. Moving the bottle will help it stay clean.

Second, your factory torque converter slips a lot, wasting fuel and generating a lot of heat in the trans. That tranny heat can get so hot that it overwhelms the radiator, which is trying to cool both engine and trans.

Short of a nice aftermarket TC, consider an aux tranny cooler like the TruCool H7B-- probably the best of its kind (about $90 from raceindustry dot com)

Finally, consider modding your coolant. Additives like Redline Water Wetter and Royal Purple's Purple Ice are safe and effective.

Going farther with this would be converting to a waterless engine coolant from Evans Cooling products (NPG+) www.evanscooling.com


The above options, individually or in combination will eliminate and and all overheating problems short of towing 40K at 600hp

Justin

 

RJohnson has the part number for the Cummins 180* Thermostat...i do not...but i am going to be updating myself next coolant change.

 

Cummins T-Stat solved ALL my (and others)overheating problems... but my radiator is clean & flushed regularly! Cummins Part # 3967195

RJ

 

I'm not too sure about switching to the 180 T-stat. I asked this question a few months back Here and was convinced it was a bad idea, only because of the ECM and electronics in the trucks???

 

seems like both sides can be valid. as the truck came from Dodge/Cummins, it IS engineered to run good AND meet emissions requirements. as many of our trucks sit now, with a BIT of modification, those original specs become guidelines instead of hard parameters! if Cummins engineered the truck to the best possible standards, why can I get better fuel mileage AND more power with some mods? noise from the airbox, smoke from the tailpipe, unsafe EGT if it is not monitored...
i always figure the manufacturer restrains the vehicle to about 80% of its potential, that way they can survive the warranty period when driven by an 18 year old at Indy speeds with zero attention! (and soccer moms, but don't tell my wife!)

 

i tow a 35 foot flat deck with 25k on top of it and never get above 140 remove the oil tube and exstend the line down past the axel and let it fly clean the rad with degreaser and all should be good

 

As Truckman said, at the end of that thread, and as I have heard other places, Cummins changed specs for the 5.9L ISB and now calls for a 180* T-Stat.! Seems to me that both T-stats work OK....and all the ECM concerns are logical theory that really have no on-the-road effect.

Maybe it's just my extra fueling but my truck runs very well with the 180*. No longer climbs above center hash mark when working hard. I have an oil temp gauge and it did not change 1* when going to a 180* T-Stat; nor did my EGT's at cruise. I don't quite get all the "heat rejection" concerns on that thread??

If my coolant was climbing to 220* going up a hill, empty (original question), and I had a clean & flushed radiator, I'd sure give it a try.
But I did keep my Dodge 190* ... in case I want it back in for winter months. All of 10 minutes to swap them out

RJ

 

My truck never gets to work that hard, so I'd actually prefer a HOTTER T-stat if I could find it. It'd sure help in the winter. That said, the 190 works perfectly well for me in both summer and winter.

Heck, my fan clutch rarely locks up even in triple digit weather with the A/C blasting.