Been a while guys! Been lurking but nothing to contribute because I'm an idiot, so go easy on me!
Running into a problem, figured I would get some expert advice!
About two weeks ago, running down the highway in middle of nowhere, truck starts running hot, probably 220 or so, as I'm in the middle of nowhere, I continue down the road to the nearest store. Look underneath, lower radiator hose is popped off. Simple fix, put it back on and fill with water, off I go, runs 190 all the way home.
Couple days later I see tranny fluid leaking, run it in to the tranny shop, transmission has to be rebuilt because it overheated. Okay, second time in 100,000 miles, done, 2K down the drain.
When I get teh truck back it sounds slightly different and the temp is running between 195 and 205, I watch it nothing changes for a day or so of short trips. About a week later I'm towing my boat and all of a sudden the temp shoots up to 220 again, oh no! I get pulled over again and lower radiator hose is popped off again, all my fluid is gone. I asked the tranny shop to double check when they rebuilt and they said they did. Anyways I put it back on and fill with water to get home, this is on a holiday weekend. I tighten it up for real this time and get home, temp running between 190-200. The next day I pull the boat again, no problem, temp fluctuates between 195 and 205, motor still sounds a slight, very slight, louder.
I called the shop again, they say bring it in. On the way there, temp shoots up to 210 about 30 minutes into the drive. i pull over and the upper and lower radiator hoses are hard as a rock. I carefully open the radiator cap, not smart I know, and relieve the pressure. Temp is still at about 210 all the way to the shop.
They test the radiator fluid, that has only been in there for about 200 miles, and find no signs of a head gasket leak and the heater works great. I changed the thermostat about a year ago, flushed the radiator about 6 months ago. The tech at the shop did say my fan seemed to be turning pretty slow but he was really cluless about what would cause the hardness of the hoses. It sits there now, waiting to be diagnosed.
2003 Dodge Ram 3500 HO
190,000
Automatic
4x4
Thanks in advance for any help!

 

Sounds like your electric fan clutch may be toast. Pull the codes with the 3 key on off trick. See if you have any.

 

Appreciate it Spooler, will call first thing in the AM and have them run the codes! Once again, many thanks!

 

I would get them to put a cooling system pressure tester on the truck and go drive it, also have them check the cap while they are at it. Another thing is the trans cooler, was it cleaned after the rebuilds. I don't know if you have one in the rad. but no matter what it will kill a trans if you don't clean it out after a failure. If it was mine I would just replace it. A trans is a lot to chance on something as cheep as a trans cooler.

 

Yes, there is a thermostat in the tranny cooler. If trash get's in it, the thermostat won't work properly.

Here is a writeup from another site to help correct that issue.

http://www.competitiondiesel.com/for...d.php?t=117605

 

I don't know if this is it but I have seen almost the same problem on a C-13 cat. I pulled the thermostat out and the sides of it were all scored up. It can cause some funny overheating issues. But like spooler said pull the codes first its cheep and easy.

 

This would cause the almost vapor lock in teh cooling system? I am assuming that if it is not a head gasket, the added pressure is coming from where? Again, thanks so much for the help guys! This thing is going to break me!

 

The head gasket is the only place the extra pressure can come from. When you let the pressure off of the rad. How much was there, it's funny that letting the pressure off of the rad. helped with the overheating. The only thing else that might cause the hoses to keep blowing off is the rad. cap. It limits the pressure in the cooling system to a reasonable level by letting the excess pressure off.

 

I'm not sure that releasing the pressure helped with the overheating, I just stopped to luck when it started to elevate and saw that both hoses were on the verge of busting. I then released the pressure, there was quite a bit, the tightened it back up, still ran about 215 or so all the way to the shop. I am starting to think that the radiator cap may be a culprit, if not a head gasket. They did not do a compression test, only tested the fluid, which was 100% water, in the radiator and found no traces of oil or diesel, but the new fluid only had about 200 miles on it, is there a possibility that it just hasn't infiltrated into the radiator at a measureable level? These guys are starting to worry me, I have gained more knowledge in the these 8 posts then I have spending an hour going through my truck with the tech at the shop, I think I was better off leaving it at the house and chatting with you guys! Once again guys, many thanks!

 

The hard hoses are because it is running hot and expansion of the coolant. If the rad cap is good, it should not allow the pressure to go beyond it's presetting. I think it's a 15 pound cap, but don't quote me. You'll have to check. The pressure helps keep the boiling point up to 250 or so.

A thermostat with gouges in the side could be coming up crooked and jamming. But that allows some water to flow most of the time.

You may be dealing with 2 problems. A bad cap and a bad stat. A bad cap would explain the hose blowing off.

The Rad could be plugged too. It's unusual these days, with todays coolants, but it still happens. Even if you flushed the rad, that won't clean it out the tubes if scale is trapped in there. You MUST keep the proper mix of coolant in the truck. Don't use that premix stuff. I have yet to find a true 50/50 mix. Why pay for the water.

If you heard the engine burping internally, then you have a bad stat. Just because it's new, doesn't mean a thing.

Stay away from Auto Zone and places like that. The parts are JUNK! Stay with an independant parts store or a NAPA, which is my last choice. NAPA's quality is slipping too.

I have 7 classic cars and who knows how many I have sold. But because I used quality parts, all that work was never done again.

Take a lesson from the old man. Spend a few more bucks and get better parts. Best Stats I ever used were Robert Shaw. Stant Caps. Avoid all that stuff packed in rice.

I'll be around if I can help you more. Hope this helped

 

It is very possible to have a head gasket leak just to a cooling jacket but remember that when the engine is running the cylinder pressure is very much higher than cooling system pressure but when you shut the engine off the cooling system pressure is higher than cylinder pressure. So it may show up as coolant in the oil or steam out of the exhaust. Have you seen any loss of coolant when it was not blowing the rad. hose?

 

Good point, I forgot to include that in my last post Dohhhh

It's hard for him to tell with the hose blowing off.

 

Here is a question were both of the hoses hot when you checked the pressure?

 

I think with all of us on this site there is no problem that can't be figured out, power in numbers baby!

 

I think all the causes it could be, just about everything has been mentioned.

Grab a hold of the clutch fan and see if it wiggles back and forth. Then spin it and see if it's got resistence. Do that when it's cold. If it spins more than 1/2 to 3/4 of a turn, then it's going bad.

However, clutch fans do very little when driving. The pressure of the wind cancels it out.

Make sure the rad is not clogged up with debris on the outside. You have to look down between the coolers to be sure the wind path is clean. You guys down there have all sorts of stuff blowing around down there in the glades. I've driven from Miyammi to Seabring numerous times. Talking about remote. . .

The one thing that makes me lean to a binding stat is the fact the temps are fluxuating. If it's a head gasket or cracked head, it will rise and continue to rise. Look in the overflow tank and see if it's got some black gunk in it. That would ne either soot or fuel