Jump to content

Radiator temperature differential


MackE7760

Recommended Posts

In general, if a cooling system is in good operating order(clean radiator, clean fins, good fan clutch etc), what kind of temperature differential should i be seeing from inlet to outlet with coolant around 200 (mid green area on my truck).

Should t/d be higher if coolant is hotter(say 215)?

Chasing an intermittent overheating issue.

Edited by MackE7760
Clarification
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • MackE7760 changed the title to Radiator temperature differential

if youre truck is 06 and older (Gray Motor) the small green zone on the gauge is 180-185.. and I think you are looking for 30+ degrees difference between inlet and out let temps on the radiator, going in should be 180ish, 150ish coming out..  jojo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is in a 2004 granite dump that tags a excavator (83000 gross when tagging) my gauge shows 200 as middle of green area, when in stop and go traffic in hot weather, she gets to 220ish(edge of red), but getting worse recently (red and alarm). Yesterday when troubleshooting, loaded around 50k, did two back to back acceleration runs and immediately stopped and checked d/t, only 10-12 degree differential between metal line going into radiator and bottom metal section going back to engine. One mechanic said need to be seeing 20+ d/t, but I thought i read 10 somewhere. 
Note that temp was probably 210 at this time, and the fan was roaring away BUT i could barely feel airflow between fan and motor. Took to shop and washed what I could, and it looks clean, but wondering if maybe between intercooler and radiator is plugged and i cant see it?

1CD78005-31F0-4089-9FD5-F177CCEAA15D.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nice posting.. I did forget about that style gauge..  Of course stay simple right now,  are you able to see between the CAC and the radiator?  maybe with a mirror or a bore scope? is it pushing coolant out of the reservoirs? is the fan shroud broken or missing? have you replaced the thermostats? you should have 2 on that engine.?  Is it an ASET-I or 'C'?  jojo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

30 minutes ago, Joey Mack said:

Nice posting.. I did forget about that style gauge..  Of course stay simple right now,  are you able to see between the CAC and the radiator?  maybe with a mirror or a bore scope? is it pushing coolant out of the reservoirs? is the fan shroud broken or missing? have you replaced the thermostats? you should have 2 on that engine.?  Is it an ASET-I or 'C'?  jojo

It’s a granite so AI unless there was some AC that I was unaware of?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yes it is a AI-300A, yes, fan shroud is intact, when i did the two hard acceleration runs then stopped to check fan, it was roaring loud, like locked in through the viscous clutch, but really didn’t feel like it was moving air much. No, haven’t changed the thermostats (tomorrow), and im also thinking pull the intercooler to see if the face of radiator is stopped up (the radiator that i can see above the intercooler looks clean, but cant see between the radiator and the intercooler). I did notice today while trying to clean it from the front, when I sprayed through the condenser/intercooler, it sure seemed like a lot of the steam was coming out of the gap where I removed a shroud to try to see the rad face, like maybe where i cant see is bad, will pull it tomorrow (intercooler) to see face of rad

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Under hp 10 wheeler in my opinion, if it’s pushing coolant it’s more then likely a head gasket or liners. Clearly check the easy stuff first. We had one with a bad fan clutch and rotted radiator and it was setting off the Alarm/Shutdown light. Guy still finished his 45 min long salt route with 15 tons of salt on and kept pushing the rocker switch to keep it from shutting down and never pushed any coolant out. 

Edited by Onyx610
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know its a bit of work, but you can open the hood and stand in the opening and look,,  can you take your pressure  washer and blow the gap between the cooler and rad.? hell a garden hose with a small fire hose nozzel can do it.....  you got this.... jojo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

610, she is set/injected at 375hp, and with 206k/26k hours, I realize that it may be(likely) internal issues, but hopefully not. 
Jojo, thats what i did this evening. Theres a shroud  that makes the cooling air go through the aftercooler instead of shortcutting to radiator, removed it and with motor running washed the radiator as best i could for a good while in my carwash. It wasnt hot enough for the fan to really pull it through but may help, we will see tomorrow. Btw, South Louisiana not Florida

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...