She's runnin' HOT, HOT, HOTTER! Gonna boil over!
04-12-2017, 11:19 PM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
She's runnin' HOT, HOT, HOTTER! Gonna boil over!
Hello folks! We just got back home to Alberta from our winter RV camping spot at Osoyoos, BC. RV life on a full time basis is not exactly "living the dream" although it does have some perks.
Our rigging is somewhat a little bit too much RV and too little truck. I know that the weight police on the RV forums would have an absolute cow reading what we pull with our truck, perhaps some of you will also. I guess I'll boot strap my fire proof suit and take my chances with y'all. The truck is in my sig and the RV is a Fleetwood Regal with a GVW of just shy of 13,000lbs.
Now, onto my problem. On the pull home, on three occasions, all pulling up very large mountain pass type climbs, the temp. gauge climbed right up to the top of the scale with the needle at "H". The "check gauges" light on the dash also went off, as if I wasn't already painfully aware of my very hot running Cummins motor. I had nowhere to pull over on these lovely mountain roads as they simply do not offer shoulder or pull off areas. Each time it got hot I slowed right down to about 30MPH/50KPH, downshifted to second gear and kept the tach at around 2,500RPM. The temp gauge always fell back from the "H" and hovered right around 1/2 way between the top of the [normal] range and the "H". As soon as I breached the top of the hill the temps would of course drop back to the dead center of normal position. I also noted during these max temp situations that my trans temp, although a bit hot at 200*, never got any hotter than that.
Yes, I will take my radiator out as soon as I can to wash and degrease the outside of it thoroughly. I am not anticipating finding much spooge though because my drip hose for the oil catcher is way below the motor and tucked away just a bit back behind the front steering parts. The AF was fresh 50/50 mix and only about five months old. The part that puzzles me more than anything is that at NO time during the overheating sessions did I hear any increase in volume coming from the radiator fan. Everything that I thought I knew about fan clutches told me that the fan should have been howling like a locomotive or a jet engine trying to cool the rad and motor down. Am I wrong in my understanding of how the fan clutch works on these beasts? I have noticed a small amount of spooge on the edges of the fan blades and nothing otherwise to tell me that there had been a failure/leakage of the clutch viscous fluid.
When I towed our previous RV, 2,000lbs lighter at max GVW, we never had any overheating issues regardless of steepness, degree or length of climb. I am pretty sure and really hoping that I didn't do any damage to the motor and it never boiled over or gave any indications, noise or roughness that it was truly unhappy. There are no surprise leaks from anywhere on or near the motor as of today, three days after we arrived here in Alberta. The truck continues to run awesomely, just like it always has.
Thoughts, suggestions, comments all would be appreciated.
Cheers!
Mike
Our rigging is somewhat a little bit too much RV and too little truck. I know that the weight police on the RV forums would have an absolute cow reading what we pull with our truck, perhaps some of you will also. I guess I'll boot strap my fire proof suit and take my chances with y'all. The truck is in my sig and the RV is a Fleetwood Regal with a GVW of just shy of 13,000lbs.
Now, onto my problem. On the pull home, on three occasions, all pulling up very large mountain pass type climbs, the temp. gauge climbed right up to the top of the scale with the needle at "H". The "check gauges" light on the dash also went off, as if I wasn't already painfully aware of my very hot running Cummins motor. I had nowhere to pull over on these lovely mountain roads as they simply do not offer shoulder or pull off areas. Each time it got hot I slowed right down to about 30MPH/50KPH, downshifted to second gear and kept the tach at around 2,500RPM. The temp gauge always fell back from the "H" and hovered right around 1/2 way between the top of the [normal] range and the "H". As soon as I breached the top of the hill the temps would of course drop back to the dead center of normal position. I also noted during these max temp situations that my trans temp, although a bit hot at 200*, never got any hotter than that.
Yes, I will take my radiator out as soon as I can to wash and degrease the outside of it thoroughly. I am not anticipating finding much spooge though because my drip hose for the oil catcher is way below the motor and tucked away just a bit back behind the front steering parts. The AF was fresh 50/50 mix and only about five months old. The part that puzzles me more than anything is that at NO time during the overheating sessions did I hear any increase in volume coming from the radiator fan. Everything that I thought I knew about fan clutches told me that the fan should have been howling like a locomotive or a jet engine trying to cool the rad and motor down. Am I wrong in my understanding of how the fan clutch works on these beasts? I have noticed a small amount of spooge on the edges of the fan blades and nothing otherwise to tell me that there had been a failure/leakage of the clutch viscous fluid.
When I towed our previous RV, 2,000lbs lighter at max GVW, we never had any overheating issues regardless of steepness, degree or length of climb. I am pretty sure and really hoping that I didn't do any damage to the motor and it never boiled over or gave any indications, noise or roughness that it was truly unhappy. There are no surprise leaks from anywhere on or near the motor as of today, three days after we arrived here in Alberta. The truck continues to run awesomely, just like it always has.
Thoughts, suggestions, comments all would be appreciated.
Cheers!
Mike
04-13-2017, 03:06 AM
#2
Registered User
There is a kind of bi-metal clockspring in the front of the fan clutch. This spring tells the fan clutch when to engage.
To test if it works I use a mirror to see the parts and a gas lighter, I heat up the spring and watch if it turns the center pin.
If it does, I try to rotate the fan by hand, there should be a big difference in resistance.
If there is no difference it's fan clutch time.
If it does not move try a good soaking with penetrating oil, then degrease and try again.
To test if it works I use a mirror to see the parts and a gas lighter, I heat up the spring and watch if it turns the center pin.
If it does, I try to rotate the fan by hand, there should be a big difference in resistance.
If there is no difference it's fan clutch time.
If it does not move try a good soaking with penetrating oil, then degrease and try again.
The following users liked this post:
Mike L (04-14-2017)
04-21-2017, 09:41 PM
#3
Registered User
It sure is nice to have gauges for things like boost and egt at times like those....
I would call it preventative maintenance, by pulling and cleaning the radiator and replacing the fan clutch. I recently replaced the radiator on my 07 which has no breather hose in the area, and at least 50% of the rad was blocked with grime. Pulling the radiator on my 98 was a lot easier than the 07, one more reason to give it a try.
I would call it preventative maintenance, by pulling and cleaning the radiator and replacing the fan clutch. I recently replaced the radiator on my 07 which has no breather hose in the area, and at least 50% of the rad was blocked with grime. Pulling the radiator on my 98 was a lot easier than the 07, one more reason to give it a try.
04-22-2017, 07:24 PM
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Hey gorms! thanks for your input! I'll be pulling the rad as soon as it stops snowing here - grrrrrrrrrrrr!! Stupid weather! It's times like these that I really, really miss my old garage.
Cheers!
Mike
Cheers!
Mike
The following users liked this post:
Mike L (04-23-2017)
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