[pro property]

ok,, this happend in my 03 chevy with 20000 kms. and the 6litre motor.
Put the plow on today, drove into town, about 20 min away. NO problems. Got into town and noticed the engine temp slowly climbing and the tranny temp climbing, then my windows all of the sudden fogged up . Cranked the defog on and they cleared , very slowly.... temp kept climbing, about 15 min later, i hear ;a hiss(I think coming from my truck, not sure on the hiss).. I pull over and the temp is around 115 on the gage and the trany is high also.But not in the red zoned at all .... I scratch the noggin.. and start driveing again, lower the plow a bit , and the temp drops... ok,,,,
now I raise the plow back up too the usuall position, to test my theory. (which is the plow was blocking the rad)... and then drove for 40 min... city and highway,,, this time nothing happened. the temp is fine all the time. I have driven in warmer temp. with the plow always in this positon and no cooling problems...
what happened, just a fluke,,,,, hmmmmm
any thaoughts...
thanks
mike:canada

 

[wyldman]

Sounds like you almost overheated it Mike.Try carrying the blade in different positions to get the best airflow across the rad.You should see the temps come down when you find the right spot.

 

[pro property]

its strange. I just went for another ride. carried the blade straight and full up.. no problems....It was angled when the temp went upearlier today.. But I had carried it like that before and no problems....
It never went into the red. But it was half way between norm and red zone.
Ill keep my eye on it more closely now....seemed odd that all of the sudden it went up.... :canada

 

[W-n-K Landscaping]

When was the last time you flushed your raditator? It's possible that you had some crud break loose and partially block your radiator until the temps shot up and it started to break down- long shot, but worth looking at. Or how old is your thermostat? It might have been stuck shut- I have had that happen to me before- It stuck shut, the temp got up there until the pressure built and then it released and the temp stayed in the normal area. Flushed the system and put a new thermostat in with some radiator additve and had no more problems.

Let us know what you come up with if you do any more research!

Bill

 

[Alan]

With only 12,000 miles on an 03 I really doubt he has a crudded up radiator. And that should be Dex-Cool in there with a lifespan of of 150,000 miles or so.

 

[CNY Joe]

I have had that happen a few times, I just changed the blade angle ang the temp went back to normanl. I usually never have a problem with the blade up and in the straight position.

 

[pro property]

I just went for another ride. drove down the highway with the blade straight and fully raised. About 7 min to the next town. Temp ok.. then started cruiseing throught the town. Temp started too rise. Went up to about 110. I lower the blade. Temp came dwon to normal... drove around no problems. So... to test it agian . I raised the blade back up... drove around for half an hour then down the highway back home, drove around my town 10 min... temp stayed normal this time....
makes no sense at all....
:headwall

the only thing i can figure is maybe the thermostat is slow to open. or the blade is effecing it opening up....
long shot. It never goes into the red. gets about half way there. around 110 too 114 ded celcious:canada

 

[Honest Mike]

I agree with Alan about the mileage being so low and the truck is too new for it to have any radiator problems already, however I will say that Dexcool antifreeze is crap. I have only 37,000 miles on my SS and you should see what the antifreeze looks like, it looks like mud. My brothers 97 Buick Century, same Dexcool, his car has 76,000 miles, you should see what his looks like, worse than mine, real thick muddy lookin crap. 150,000 miles?? Yea, uh huh, tell me another one. Green antifreeze stays nice and clean, for much longer. This stuff is absolutely lousy. Score a point for Ford here, they never used this crap in their cars. Mike :headwall

 

[pro property]

Ok
I let the truck cool off for 45 min. then went for another ride. this time i only raised the blade about 6 to 8 inches off the ground. This left the top part of my rad/grill exposed. Same route as last time,,, not a single problem. Truck never went over 98 deg...perfectly normal.So I guese all my worrying was caused by the wrong blade height. Just like you guys said.
I will still be checking the temp gauge, just out of sheer concern..and parinoia.....lol...
Hopefully thats that .....
:canada :burnout

 

[BWhite]

As stated ,You dont need to flush your radiator ....you have a new truck . Your truck seems sensitive to airflow. Seems likeyou have found the proper height . The hard part for me would be geting used to lifting it there. I had a similiar problem with my Dodge . Dodge put out a TSB that required changing fan clutch for a unit that locked up at a lower temp . It solved my overheating