LUVTruck.com

Yesterday on my 50 mile drive home (on LA freeways) my truck ran perfect (70 mph in the carpool lane). I stopped at the auto parts store for a few minutes before going home. When I left the store I noticed the temperature gauge around 200 degrees. I figured it would go down once I got moving. On the 3 mile drive home the temperature would go up to around 210 degrees when I was moving and then drop a little when I stopped. When I got home I checked for any water leaks. No leaks. The only odd thing was the radiator was not hot. I was able to hold my hand on the top tank without getting burned. I did notice the over flow reservoir was half full. I released the pressure from the radiator with the cap release and that’s when the radiator started getting hot (lots of hot gases and no water). I added about 10 ounces of water to top off the radiator and started the truck back up. The water in the radiator was churning up real good. The temperature dropped back down to 180 degrees. Any thought on what could have caused this temperature problem. Sorry for making this a long read.

sounds like your thermostat is stuck. swap it out, should fix the problem.

A.j.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgDNjeTa0g

When you change your thermostat buy a new ratiator cap as well. Sounds like the spring might be getting weak and not holding the right pressure.....could be why you had alot of fluid in the overflow.

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In life there is the "Way things should be" and then "There's the way they are".

2005 Silverado 3/4T Crew Cab
1981 Luv 2WD
1979 Luv 4x4 Currently going through Open Heart and Cosmetic surgery
1995 Roughneck JetBoat
1981 Luv parts trk

The cap, thermostat and water pump are only two months old (also had the radiator re-done). The guy who stole it was running without a thermostat. It looks like it might have over heated on him when he was driving it. I'm still in the process of replacing/fixing the things he did to it.

Do a compression check of the coolant system and cap. Leak may be very small and or just starting. Also do a combustion check in the coolant system. You might have a head gasket that's starting to leak.
Quite often, taking out the thermostadt will make them run hotter.

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The light at the end of the tunnel, may just be a train coming!

new dont mean anything on a thermostat or waterpump. have had many crapo zone and checkers thernmostats not work right out of the box. Most replacement parts from your local autoparts store are of chinese manufactoring and there quality control tends to be sketchy.

better safe than sorry. I always check my t -stat in the kitchen and add 2 small bleeder holes.

A.j.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgDNjeTa0g

Take out the t stat, and put it in a pan of water on the stove. Heat it up and see if it opens all the way. If you a thermometer you can make sure it's opening at the proper temp.

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OK, I'm over it. Where's the beer?

Ditto, I have had several Thermostats go bad right out of the box, that's when I learned to also drill a couple bypass holes as well.

_________________
In life there is the "Way things should be" and then "There's the way they are".

2005 Silverado 3/4T Crew Cab
1981 Luv 2WD
1979 Luv 4x4 Currently going through Open Heart and Cosmetic surgery
1995 Roughneck JetBoat
1981 Luv parts trk

Keep an eye on it, and if it tends to keep getting air in it again, you have a head gasket starting to go.
Sooner or later you will be replacing it.

Had the truck in the shop for the past two days and my mechanic could not find a thing wrong. Another mystery.

you know, just cause its happened to me.....

i had an el camino that was doing the same thing after put a new engine in..... it turned out that when I had pulled the radiator to swap the engine, the rag I had stuffed in the water outlets had slipped inside and never got noticed during re-assembly.

so, yea... it was the problem i discovered almost a year later.

just a thought?

A.j.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgDNjeTa0g

Did your mechanic perform a Flow test on the radiator?

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In life there is the "Way things should be" and then "There's the way they are".

2005 Silverado 3/4T Crew Cab
1981 Luv 2WD
1979 Luv 4x4 Currently going through Open Heart and Cosmetic surgery
1995 Roughneck JetBoat
1981 Luv parts trk

Flow test, pressure test on the block, road test. He said he could not find a think wrong. No blockage on the water flow. Putting her back on the road Monday.

Has anyone upgraded their radiator fan. If so what type/make did you use.

your problem boggles me, there is obviously something wrong somewhere and crtuching it with a bigger fan wont help. I run a turbo v6 on my stock radiator with a 12 inch 4 blade fan, averages 185 for the most part and I never have overheating issues. thers something deeper thats causing this!

A.j.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykgDNjeTa0g

Was this a one time event or is this reocurring? One time, it's possible a bit of crap from the cleaning caused the thermostat to get stuck. Who knows? If this happens each time, I'd have to go with egg. The head gasket comes first to my mind. Good luck and let us know if/when you fix it.

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I've never been wrong! Once I thought I was, but I was mistaken.
Rick
Loranger, La
1980 Stepside LUV (Again)

Took truck back to the shop yesterday. We did a test of the coolant system and the CO was 707 ppm. I think that should point my mechanic in the right direction.

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76 LUV