let me say this is just a thread of how i fixed my cooling proplem i dont have any issues running hot. anymore..

i faught a heating issue with my truck for a couple years. it always ran warmer then i thought it should. i replaced my leaky rad with a good used one. that worked for a while, never ran hot, but still wamer then i thought it should.

so i was thinking of doing what everyone whats to do when they can't seem to figure out why?? REPLACE everything...

Before i wasted all my money i began to start testing areas for the problem maybe a leaky head gasket? all the symptoms fit, missing water from my rad, running hotter then it should. so i figured the head gasket was the problem. i poped open the rad cap, sniffed it, no exhaust smell, just a sweet coolent smell, no bubbles, nothing out of the order. checked the oil stick, clean dark oil (no water)

not the head gasket. check flow? start the truck cold and watch the coolent. after it warms up t-stat opens and water flows good and hot.

checked; header core good, water pump good, cap good, t-stat good, hoses good, fan turns but wait how do i test it?

read up on the fan clutch, started the truck cold, ran it for a few secs and cut the truck off and the fan free spun for a few secs, fan clutch was dead. i picked up a new one from the local parts house, and threw it on. now everything was in order and i tested again.

no change in the running temp of the truck, turn on the ac and it's systems over load, sometimes i had to turn the heater on to keep from running hot.

a new radiator was in order after the old one was infrared temp tested, to my surprise only 1/4 of the rad was flowing, so over 3/4 of the rad showed a low temp reading meaning clogged up. so a good flushing was in order. flushed the truck for a good 15 mins to get all the nasty out. after the new radiator was put in, filled up and burped the system. i ran the truck with ac in 90 degree heat and hand wont move more then 1/4 of the guage.

i posted this b/c my truck had me fooled and mad. also i guess i just never thought of replaceing the fan clutch, but after i started looking in to blown HG's is when i figured out the fan clutch needed to be replaced. after i figured out the hg was not the problem it was a cake walk to narrow it down and have a truck that wont even think about running hot. thats a good feeling, i have such a habbit of keeping more of and eye on them temp hand vs the gas hand.

 

Wow, Very good write-up. Im glad you found the problem and got it fixed

 

I'm a little confused... was it the fan clutch or the 3/4 clogged radiator causing the problem? Reading the post 3-4 times makes it sound like it was the fan clutch, but you said So, changing the radiator fixed the problem?

 

If turning the heater on results in lower coolant temps, probably 8 times out of 10 means the radiator is clogged.

 

I should double check my rad with a infared gun...

never thought of that..

 

yea, changed the rad and the fan clutch was also shot. but in all runs, sorry, i mean to say cools great. runs like S&8*! but thats another story.