temp gauge climbing and temp light coming on.detroit 60

[henboy1]

Every time the whether is above 85 degrees my temp light comes on whenever the temp gauge starts to climb towards the red(around 210degrees) and this trips the buzzer.This is when the truck sees some hill and maybe 4% grade at about 30k ibs load or more.I have a 1993 FLD and I am not ready for an inframe until 6 months down the road.The Odo. reads 1.2million miles.
For example the the gauge was climbing into the red on monteagle on I-24 and I had to pull on the side for the temp to go down.I also have the fan switch but it only kicks on above 1500 rpm.
The coolant level is normal.I did finally closed the faucets 2 days ago and that helped a bit but anytime above 85 degrees outside and I get this problem.
Can flushing the radiator help?This truck just hates hills but I can hit 75 on the flats.Do I need to test the coolant mixture?
Any ideas?

[TK THE TRUCKER]

Is your radiator clean from dust and debris and other things like bugs ? How about your grill, does it have anything blocking air from going through it like license plates or Christmas wreaths ? As for your fan, if you have a switch and change it to manual it should run all the time, not just above 1500 rpm. 8) 8)

[henboy1]

Even with the fan running constant above the 1500 rpm mark, the gauge can still trigger the buzzer to come on.I never thought about the debris on the rad. or grill.I washed the truck a month ago, I will check.

[henboy1]

I was helping a driver jump his truck when another driver requested he call a local shop to come fix the problem.He then pulled out a book with directory of all the shops in the area.Where can I get this book from?Can I buy this book from a truck stop?

Closing the faucets will do the opposite of what you think. Keeping them open gives the engine 2 more little radiators to cool the engine off. It use to be an old trick when crossing the desert in the old days. People would turn on the heat full blast. Your heaters are really 2 little radiators and turning the heat on full blast with the fan will cool the engine coolant even more.

I'm curious if you have a bad sensor. When I pull a hill with my Detroit the engine temp will rise up to 220 before the fan comes on and it cools down pretty quick. Also, my fan will come on at 600 RPM's if I want it to. My fan runs at an idle once in a while when the A/C is on.

[henboy1]

I'm curious if you have a bad sensor. When I pull a hill with my Detroit the engine temp will rise up to 220 before the fan comes on and it cools down pretty quick.Mine does the same thing at 220 and it will cool it down on flats and some low grade hills but not when it is quite hilly.When I hit the switch it will not turn on the fan at idle but only at 1500 rpm.The fan kicks on at certain times when the Ac is also on.
My uncle who works for CASE had told me to open the faucets in the winter and close them in the summer.What he told me to do helped a bit.I just cannot get him to look at the truck.My fan is air driven.

My uncle who works for CASE had told me to open the faucets in the winter and close them in the summer.What he told me to do helped a bit.I just cannot get him to look at the truck.My fan is air driven.

He told you that so you can have heat in the winter and not have the heater fight with the A/C in the summer. Leaving them open and the heat on full with the fan on high WILL cool your engine more.

[heavyhaulerss]

run 2 wires from the fuse that operates your cooling fan to a toggle switch. this way you can turn fan on at any time for as long as you want. i always turn fan on manually way before the kick on temp. if going up hill, i'll hit at 190 to keep it low. if i'm going down hill first i'll kick it on so that when i'm starting climb i'll be at lowest poss temp.. also i put in 180 thermostats & took out the 190's this helped out very much. in the summer & put in the 190's in winter. try the 180's. they will make a huge difference.

[silvan]

Leaving them open and the heat on full with the fan on high WILL cool your engine more.

It will, but it doesn't make enough difference to be worth the abject misery of increasing the temperature in the cab to in excess of 120 F.

I drove that old Peterbilt cabinover into the ground, and it had a lot of overheating problems at the end. One trick I used was to go ahead and drop one or more gears beyond what I knew it would pull, and go up the hill really, really slowly on purpose. That used to get me to the top of Fancy Gap without the truck shutting down.

I have no idea exactly what was wrong, but it was way past worn out, and needed rebuilding or retiring. The company retired it, and it went straight to the scrap yard. Not a lot of market for a 1.5 million plus mile '89 model single axle cabover with the windshield trying to rust out, blown out seals in the jack hydraulics, etc.

[Part Time Dweller]

Have your charge air cooler, which is in front of the radiator, pressure checked for leaks. If there is a hole in it, you will lose some of the fresh air charge going into the engine. The harder the pull, the more noticeable it will be. This is a common problem, the charge air cooler get cracks from the vibrations.

If you have a pyrometer.(exhaust temp) you will notice it going up in unison with the water temp. If you have a manifold pressure gauge, you will notice a drop in pressure.

[bob h]

Every time the whether is above 85 degrees my temp light comes on whenever the temp gauge starts to climb towards the red(around 210degrees) and this trips the buzzer.This is when the truck sees some hill and maybe 4% grade at about 30k ibs load or more.I have a 1993 FLD and I am not ready for an inframe until 6 months down the road.The Odo. reads 1.2million miles.
For example the the gauge was climbing into the red on monteagle on I-24 and I had to pull on the side for the temp to go down.I also have the fan switch but it only kicks on above 1500 rpm.
The coolant level is normal.I did finally closed the faucets 2 days ago and that helped a bit but anytime above 85 degrees outside and I get this problem.
Can flushing the radiator help?This truck just hates hills but I can hit 75 on the flats.Do I need to test the coolant mixture?
Any ideas?

check the concentration of your coolant first

at what temp does the fan come on automatically?

[henboy1]

I will rule out the bug in front of the radiator because the air cooler and ac condensor is convered by it.You are right Bob, I will do that test with the strips.The previous owner had those test strips in the truck to measure the coolent.I will let you know.The fan comes on around 210 degrees and it stays on until the gauge comes back to 180-200.Red line mark starts at 220.

[henboy1]

When I bought the truck I must have added about 4 gallons of just water in about a 6 month period and I just don't know why I did that.2 days ago I decided to buy 2 gallons of pure ( no mixture) of coolant.I opened one of the hoses and drained about 2gallons.I then poured the new coolant in.I hauled 30kibs for about 30 miles in 80 degree weather and the fan was kicking in normally(no temp light coming on) but not soo frequently as before.I am still monitoring this , but the real test comes when I really hit the road in 90 degree weather with about 35k ibs or more.I will do the test strips and hit the road to TX.I will update.

[mrpersons]

I've had problems in the past with a Freightliner that tended to overheat just as you're experiencing.

Do yourself a big favor and clean out the radiator, both inside and out, and your problem will most likely go away.

Keep fooling with it, and you'll wind up really cooking it. Then you'll be looking at a new head, and still need to clean the radiator!

I speaketh these words based on personal past experience!!! Make that <u>costly</u> experience......

[henboy1]

I hauled 29k ibs to tx and the light or gauge never came on(90degree weather).Then again it may come on at 40kibs.I also learned something about my truck.If I don't drain my air tanks (by pulling the strings every so often)I hear this hissing sound as if there was an air leak when I apply the service brakes.After I drained out the tanks with the moisture gone, the leaking sound went away.

[Joseph FREIGHTLINERofSAV]

I was helping a driver jump his truck when another driver requested he call a local shop to come fix the problem.He then pulled out a book with directory of all the shops in the area.Where can I get this book from?Can I buy this book from a truck stop?

The freightliner dealer directory is part# a24-00508-000
We're currently out but should have some in stock shortly.
-Joseph
Freightliner of Savannah

[Orangetxguy]

Every time the whether is above 85 degrees my temp light comes on whenever the temp gauge starts to climb towards the red(around 210degrees) and this trips the buzzer.This is when the truck sees some hill and maybe 4% grade at about 30k ibs load or more.I have a 1993 FLD and I am not ready for an inframe until 6 months down the road.The Odo. reads 1.2million miles.
For example the the gauge was climbing into the red on monteagle on I-24 and I had to pull on the side for the temp to go down.I also have the fan switch but it only kicks on above 1500 rpm.
The coolant level is normal.I did finally closed the faucets 2 days ago and that helped a bit but anytime above 85 degrees outside and I get this problem.
Can flushing the radiator help?This truck just hates hills but I can hit 75 on the flats.Do I need to test the coolant mixture?
Any ideas?

HB1..my truck is in the International shop right now, getting the heat sensor replaced. Have been fighting the temp for the last month, when climbing hills, especially loaded. Had already flushed the radiator, and made sure the grill was free of dirt and debris. Mechanic up in WV that diagnosed the sensor followed me up the road once I was loaded, and used an infrared temp gauge to diagnos my proplem.

The shop found a short in the electric-over-air that needed fixing as well.

:sad: :sad: What they told me at 3:30 though really hurt. They hooked their computer up to program the ECM...and their puter shorted out MY ECM !!!