Well, I learned yesterday how hot my truck runs with no cooling fan. A little long, but this is my story...
I left for work as usual and before entering the highway I noticed my temp gauge a little higher than normal. Since my fan and IC pump are grounded to run constantly, my first thought was that it wasn't grounding. I have had this issue before so I pull over, pop the hood and check it out. IC pump running but not the fan. Check the fuse and it's fine, now I began to panic a bit and I'll be late for work if I can't fix it.
Luckily I had the laptop with me because I haven't got my custom dual reading temp gauge connected yet. I close the hood, get in and connect TunerPro to see what's going on. I take of and watch the temp rise to 175, 180, 190 and it slows a little so I let it go and keep driving. Now at 200, I am nearly half way there so I continue but insist that I will pull over if it gets to 225 or more.
Finally it peaked at 215 (just after passing an idiot) and settled back down to 212 for the rest of the trip. The temp outside was mid-high 80's so I figured this wasn't too bad. Of course it climbed to 226 after I left the highway and entered the parking lot just down the road. Going home with 70's weather it stayed a cool 184 on the highway and 201 through town.
Has anyone else ever pushed the limit of the cooling system in desperate times? Just currious how my truck compared... I don't have the cowl hood on yet so I assume that it would be less if I did. (not that I want to find out) For the record... my stock gauge read about 180-185 when TP showed 212 assuming that the center line is 165.
Took the fan apart today hoping it was ok and it appears to be the relay. The 30A relay just didn't hold up over time but it lasted a good year. I expected it to fail sooner since the fan pulls 34ish amps at start-up. Oh well, I'll do it right this time and fix a few other things while it's all apart.
I should be good to go for Homecoming. Maybe even have the alum valve covers on if I have time.
I left for work as usual and before entering the highway I noticed my temp gauge a little higher than normal. Since my fan and IC pump are grounded to run constantly, my first thought was that it wasn't grounding. I have had this issue before so I pull over, pop the hood and check it out. IC pump running but not the fan. Check the fuse and it's fine, now I began to panic a bit and I'll be late for work if I can't fix it.
Luckily I had the laptop with me because I haven't got my custom dual reading temp gauge connected yet. I close the hood, get in and connect TunerPro to see what's going on. I take of and watch the temp rise to 175, 180, 190 and it slows a little so I let it go and keep driving. Now at 200, I am nearly half way there so I continue but insist that I will pull over if it gets to 225 or more.
Finally it peaked at 215 (just after passing an idiot) and settled back down to 212 for the rest of the trip. The temp outside was mid-high 80's so I figured this wasn't too bad. Of course it climbed to 226 after I left the highway and entered the parking lot just down the road. Going home with 70's weather it stayed a cool 184 on the highway and 201 through town.
Has anyone else ever pushed the limit of the cooling system in desperate times? Just currious how my truck compared... I don't have the cowl hood on yet so I assume that it would be less if I did. (not that I want to find out) For the record... my stock gauge read about 180-185 when TP showed 212 assuming that the center line is 165.
Took the fan apart today hoping it was ok and it appears to be the relay. The 30A relay just didn't hold up over time but it lasted a good year. I expected it to fail sooner since the fan pulls 34ish amps at start-up. Oh well, I'll do it right this time and fix a few other things while it's all apart.
I should be good to go for Homecoming. Maybe even have the alum valve covers on if I have time.
