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Truck Overheating
#21
CF Junior Member
Thread Starter
I think i found the problem!!!
I waited till summer alright, just not 2009, I waited till 2011. Now the truck has over 200K miles on it and going strong, just has a couple small problems that will need to work out like this one. I pulled my radiator and found about 5 lbs. of dirt, bugs, plant life, and other unidentifiable debris. I sprayed with my water hose from the backside while I used a soft nylon brush on the front side and picked stuff out with my fingers. I reinstalled it and installed my thermostat housing from a couple years ago that I knocked the guts out of so I could do a super flush where I leave the radiator drain open with a water hose going in the overflow tank. Ran it this way for about 30 minutes. Tomorrow plan to fill it up with 2 gallons of the yellow anti-freeze, replace my air filter, install my good thermostat along with new gasket and goop. I also cleaned out front and back of my air conditioning condenser. I sat in the car and turned on the AC high and it got nice and cold. Temperature never got above ~140 degrees since I did not have my real thermostat in, plus it was dark and only about 90 degrees out. Check out the pictures of before and after on the radiator.
#22
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Clovis, CA
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At 160K+ I'd change the radiator to a larger core size 1 1/4"vise stock 15/16", have to trim shroud a little for the bigger radiator to fit. (coolestradiator.com) has a good selection and price for the silverado. I'd replace the water pump, thermostat, tension pulleys, belts, hoses and fan clutch. Why because I had the same problem with my 2001 silverado at 210K. Once done it has never gotten past normal running with A/C on in 110 deg weather in stopped traffic. Spend a few bucks and you won't have to worry about cooling problems for along time.
#23
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Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: New Johnsonville, TN
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Holy smokes! Looks like you'd been running over long haired cats for a while. LOL I'm guessing that was probably 90% of the problem you were having with the over heating. Fan clutches have never been something I liked either. Sometimes they slip and don't work the way they're supposed to. If it does it now, I'd recommend a large electric fan in place of the fan clutch. But I'm new to the board and am not a mechanic.
#24
CF Junior Member
Thread Starter
ToooTall1 - thanks for the info. I've already put everything back together and I ran the A/C on max and let the truck idle for 45 minutes and it never got above ~195 dg. That's one test it definitely would have failed in the past. If it ever messes up again, I was just going to replace the radiator and fan at the same time and I wanted to go to the biggest size radiator I could, but I didn't know how to find out what the biggest one was that I could use. I'll save the link you sent in case I ever need it.
Chuzz - yeah, I've used my truck to blaze trails through 10 ft. sunflowers before and I guess it finally caught up to me. One time I had a fire above my catalytic converter that I had to put out with my hands, now I got a fire extinguisher and I do a "pm" where I remove debris around the catalytic converter every day I'm out hunting. If I have anymore problems, I would like to look into replacing the fan clutch with an electric fan, I just have to get more info on it. I'm not much of a mechanic either, I watched a video on You Tube about replacing a radiator before I tackled this job. Wasn't too bad except for the stupid plastic clips on the fan shroud and plastic piece that goes over the top of the radiator and A/C condensor.
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