Steveque
Central California
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I have an '03 Chevy Tahoe with a 5.3L engine. For the first 55,000 miles my temperature gauge never went above 210 degrees. Then the oil gauge went bad and I got a new cluster (free from GM). Now the temperature gauge will climb to almost 220 and then back off. I asked the local Chevy dealer about this and he said that is perfectly normal since it has an electric fan and it does not come on until 220 or right about there.
I asked him why the other cluster temperature gauge never did that and he said that was another problem with the original clusters.
I have also changed coolant twice now in the first 57,000 miles.
Steve Quesenberry
Central California
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bigdodgeram
southern Calif.
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Joined: 07/16/2001
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when you are going up the hill can you hear a loud roar? you should hear a very load roar. if you do not, you might want to upgrade to the high performance fan clutch. a 180 degree thermostat will help.
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ve7prt
Ucluelet, BC, Canada
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My Truck ('04 Ram QC 4x4, 5-spd stick, 4.7L) does the same thing. Climbing the Alberni Hump usually garners me a CHEK GAGES warning 2 or 3 times as the temp gauge climbs past the high end mark. I've got a scan tool that I plugged into the OBDII port on our last trip, and it showed the CHEK GAGE warning at 123 Deg C. No other anomalies noted, though. Running on the flats towing I am seeing about 1/2 way between the 1/2 mark and the high mark.
On the last servicing, I had the dealer check everything. They changed the coolant, noting that the old stuff was milky and there was crud floating in the fluid. Everything else was fine (so they say). Clutch fan doesn't roar, but I do know that at idle it is moving a ton of air. One thing that I did notice on one of our trips when I had the CHEK GAGE warning and pulled over was that I could lay my hand flat against the radiator.  At 123C coolant temps I should NOT be able to do that!
Anyway, I really wonder if my truck is capable of moving the 7,000lbs of trailer it is supposedly rated to move. I am starting to consider trading it in on something with a diesel under the hood. We shall see.
Cheers!
Mike
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Dieselphil
California
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All engines will heat up sum when tugging up-hill. My 97 Dodge would climb to Hot! Hot! Hot! when towing up hills. I would shift to 1st to take the load off and it would still be Hot! I would have to pull over and let her cool down. Servicing was always kept up. What fixed it was replacing the fan clutch. She would still heat up some (normal) but no more overheating.
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smkettner
Southern California
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Remove the thermostat and boil it. It should open smoothly and completely. A lower temp thermostat will not help and may hurt computer engine controls. Check if you can get a larger radiator such as for the HEMI. The fan clutch should be causing a roar at high temps if working correct.
Be glad you have a real gauge as my Ford does not move.
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kodiakcanuck
Ottawa, Canada
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Thanks for the replies everyone. Looks like I am not the only one  I do not hear the fan clutch roar kicking in at the higher temp. I do hear it when you first start the engine and drive away (which I think is normal for this and a number of GM V6's I have driven) so it must be working, but maybe need to replace with a higher performance one. I also just have the factory "idiot" gauge,  so I really don't know what temp it is actually running. I will do the flush and replace the thermostat. I am taking it to the Adirondack's in a couple weeks and see what happens then.
Thanks again!
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2004 Dodge RAM 4x4,4.7L - darn, should have had a HEMI
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bigdodgeram
southern Calif.
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ve7prt wrote:My Truck ('04 Ram QC 4x4, 5-spd stick, 4.7L) does the same thing. Climbing the Alberni Hump usually garners me a CHEK GAGES warning 2 or 3 times as the temp gauge climbs past the high end mark. I've got a scan tool that I plugged into the OBDII port on our last trip, and it showed the CHEK GAGE warning at 123 Deg C. No other anomalies noted, though. Running on the flats towing I am seeing about 1/2 way between the 1/2 mark and the high mark.
On the last servicing, I had the dealer check everything. They changed the coolant, noting that the old stuff was milky and there was crud floating in the fluid. Everything else was fine (so they say). Clutch fan doesn't roar, but I do know that at idle it is moving a ton of air. One thing that I did notice on one of our trips when I had the CHEK GAGE warning and pulled over was that I could lay my hand flat against the radiator. At 123C coolant temps I should NOT be able to do that!
Anyway, I really wonder if my truck is capable of moving the 7,000lbs of trailer it is supposedly rated to move. I am starting to consider trading it in on something with a diesel under the hood. We shall see.
Cheers!
Mike
does that convert to 253 degrees fahrenheit? that is really hot. sounds like your truck is a little small.
mine only heats up to 220 on long grades but when that fan kicks in I can still be climbing and the gauge starts going down to the normal 180 degree spot.
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ve7prt
Ucluelet, BC, Canada
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bigdodgeram wrote:does that convert to 253 degrees fahrenheit? that is really hot. sounds like your truck is a little small.
That's right. And yes, that's way too hot. The thermo should be fully open at this point. And yes, I'm starting to suspect my 1/2-ton is a little light to tow my trailer. Funny thing is, my Dad figures I should look at HEMI powered truck. Not sure a HEMI would be the answer. And I find that when we hook up, the truck's rear end really squats with the added tongue weight.
Quote:mine only heats up to 220 on long grades but when that fan kicks in I can still be climbing and the gauge starts going down to the normal 180 degree spot.
I don't ever hear the clutch fan, but at idle it is really moving the air across the radiator. So I can imagine that at 3000RPM it should be a real hurricane under the hood!
Cheers!
Mike
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JFordBronco
Ball, LA
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when we were in OK going up some of the mountains my Titan would rear SUPA HOT and once we stopped the uphill and were going straight again it would cool off. The other thing we did - maybe paranoya - when we would stop for potty stops is raise the hood, put the windows down and crank up the heater. It seemed to be a little cooler like that, with two small kids we stopped about every 2 hr or so.
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QCMan
Long Island, New York
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Your best bet is to add a better driver/vehicle interface. First, remove the thing that decides when to shift and put in a user friendly model that lets you control when it shifts. A 5 or 6 speed will do, then have the computer flashed to purge it of all the evil shift points. Next, ride and tow wherever you want without any cooling problems.
We tow a lot and be it in Phoenix summer or on top of the Rockies, our 4.7 has never even gone into the red zone even though the TT is pushing 6,000 pounds.
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