clicknathan

Hi all, just looking for some insight &/or a little wisdom from those who know better than I...

I have a 1995 Chevy G20 van. It's got a 5.7L V8 in it, a clutch fan, air conditioner and I've recently had the entire radiator, water pump and thermostat replaced. Also, it has a 3.42 rear differential.

It's a conversion van, too.

The van runs well enough on its own. However, I've got a Class IV towing package and use Reese stabilizing bar and weight distributing hitch/tow bars and I bought it so that I could tow my 1976 Airstream, a travel trailer that weighs 7,000 lbs. loaded.

Unfortunately, the van severely overheats when towing this trailer up hills, mountains yes, but even rolling hills.

There is muddy sludge in the coolant reservoir, though again I had the coolant system installed and a flush done at the time. It's my understanding that short of pulling the engine, taking it completely apart and flushing every little thing you can never get rid of this.

I also know that, if I pull over when its overheating and rector engine wy up, it cools down really, really quickly.

Along with my family, we're fullyime RVers (meaning we have no home other than this trailer / van setup, by choice) so I need to figure out what to do...

I've been to multiple garages and though mechanics say it seems like a circulation problem, none of them have really been able to say what would fix it.

I'm wondering if, given the info above, adding an electrical fan and/or tearing apart the engine to get the sludge out would be appropriate, or perhaps replacing the engine (and if possible upgrading it and the rear differential) would be the est idea...or just ditching this van altogether.

We're a family of 6 and so this van is my wife & I's bedroom, along with our youngest baby. It's a really nice van inside and works well for our needs, so that's why I'm hesitant to ditch it and a 1 ton truck or something just wouldn't work for us since the other kids take up all of the available space in the trailer.

Anyone have any insights or suggestions?

Thank you in advance!

SWHouston

Wow, making judgments about your problem is really difficult, but...

Given the Size of your ride, AND, what you're pulling, that 3.42 gear seems a little high to me. I'd try running in a lower gear to get the engine revs up, and more air flowing through the radiator. You might (in addition to that) put a heaver duty radiator on it. Be sure to check your Timing. Having it set too far in advance frequently causes more heat.

You got to get your cooling system cleaned up somehow !
Having a bunch of mud which has settled into the block anywhere is always going to create a problem. You can try running a good cleaner through it and extra flush's, which may take several times. I've on a couple occasions just pulled the Thermostat and Freeze Plugs (if you have any), start a water hose full blast down into the TStat hole, and use high pressure water to blast down into the sumps of the block through the Plug holes.

Make sure you have a properly diluted Coolant installed. Getting the manufacturers 50/50% (or whatever is recommended) will provide you with the best transfer of heat. Additionally, knowing you have a good Radiator Cap which holds the OTM pressure is very important.

Lastly, you should do a Fuel Mixture Check. I don't know if you have Injectors or normally aspirated Carburation, but if it's running lean for some reason, that can cause additional heat. I'd try to keep it somewhere about 12.5/1 since you're pulling a pretty heavy load.