tekrsq
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I've had my 99 about 8 yrs. When I bought it, the heat didn't work, and it had brown antifreeze in the coolant resevoir. I replaced the front & rear heater cores, water pump (the impellar blades were COMPLETELY rusted away), hoses, radiator, fan clutch, thermostat, and flushed the coolant system. The crud and sludge that came out of this thing was unbelievable.
I replaced the antifreeze with Prestone green "safe for all vehicles" antifreeze. I have ran this in every on-road and off-road vehicle I have ever owned, and never had any issues. The truck ran fine for 4 yrs...even towing my atv's and utv's around during the summer. For the last 4 yrs, every summer I have had to replace the fan clutch because the truck would start to run warmer than it should when towing.....about 225-235F. I have no idea why, but it seemed to fix the issue...for a year at least.
Anyway, when the truck got inspected in December of last year, I had the coolant system flushed since it had been 8 yrs. They asked me if I wanted "orange" or "green" antifreeze. I thought it was a stupid question at the time, since I had the green Prestone in there, but told them to use the green. In February, I noticed the truck running slightly warmer than normal (200F) while at interstate speeds, and not towing. Over the last couple of months, as ambient temps have started to climb, so has the trucks coolant temps. Last week when ambient temps reached 80F, the truck started to run 204-206F at highway speeds. Keep in mind that as soon as I come to a stop light, the temps start to slowly decrease.
The other day, I used 1 of those "combustion gas detectors" on the coolant system. I've never used 1 before, but plenty of people seem to think they're accurate. Anyway, it showed there were no combustion gases in my coolant system. SO, since I'm totally frustrated with this entire issue, today I decided to just replace EVERYTHING. I put in a new thermostat (195F), water pump (old one looked almost brand new), upper & lower rad hoses, fan clutch, and radiator (looked like it had some sludge in there, but not really bad overall). Refilled it with 50/50 Prestone antifreeze, but I didn't burp it yet or test drive it.
I didn't think about it at the time, but is it possible to have the "wrong" antifreeze in this thing ? Is it possible the shop didn't use the proper antifreeze, and that is why it was getting warm on me even with relatively cool ambient temps? Not gonna lie, this is getting SERIOUSLY frustrating !!!!!!!!
I replaced the antifreeze with Prestone green "safe for all vehicles" antifreeze. I have ran this in every on-road and off-road vehicle I have ever owned, and never had any issues. The truck ran fine for 4 yrs...even towing my atv's and utv's around during the summer. For the last 4 yrs, every summer I have had to replace the fan clutch because the truck would start to run warmer than it should when towing.....about 225-235F. I have no idea why, but it seemed to fix the issue...for a year at least.
Anyway, when the truck got inspected in December of last year, I had the coolant system flushed since it had been 8 yrs. They asked me if I wanted "orange" or "green" antifreeze. I thought it was a stupid question at the time, since I had the green Prestone in there, but told them to use the green. In February, I noticed the truck running slightly warmer than normal (200F) while at interstate speeds, and not towing. Over the last couple of months, as ambient temps have started to climb, so has the trucks coolant temps. Last week when ambient temps reached 80F, the truck started to run 204-206F at highway speeds. Keep in mind that as soon as I come to a stop light, the temps start to slowly decrease.
The other day, I used 1 of those "combustion gas detectors" on the coolant system. I've never used 1 before, but plenty of people seem to think they're accurate. Anyway, it showed there were no combustion gases in my coolant system. SO, since I'm totally frustrated with this entire issue, today I decided to just replace EVERYTHING. I put in a new thermostat (195F), water pump (old one looked almost brand new), upper & lower rad hoses, fan clutch, and radiator (looked like it had some sludge in there, but not really bad overall). Refilled it with 50/50 Prestone antifreeze, but I didn't burp it yet or test drive it.
I didn't think about it at the time, but is it possible to have the "wrong" antifreeze in this thing ? Is it possible the shop didn't use the proper antifreeze, and that is why it was getting warm on me even with relatively cool ambient temps? Not gonna lie, this is getting SERIOUSLY frustrating !!!!!!!!
