My CDS overheated last job

[gimmeagig]

Hi,
I have a Dodge Truck with the 4.8 CDS in it. Last night I did a carpeted area in a laundromat. The job is about an hour. After I was done my Machine shut itself off. The engine temp light was on.
I checked the coolant, the coolant reserve tank was almost completely full, way above the makers inside.AfterI drove it home the level had dropped back down quite a bit and the oil and water temperatures were normal.The Oil level was maybe a little low but still in between the safe markers.
I'm in Northern Idaho and it's cold here especially at night so I don't know what could have caused this to happen.
I'll take the truck in on Monday to have the oil changed. Maybe I should get a cooling system flush?
Is there anything in my CDS that could cause the engine to overheat like this.Bad thermostat maybe?
Other than that the machine seemed to run perfectly.
What else should I be looking at?

 

[FredC]

thermostat

make sure fan is working. Driving it home you would have had airflow through the radiator that you wouldn't while sitting if the fan is faulty.........

 

[Clean Response]

I got a 97 dodge CDS. I just had to have the radiator replaced because it was overheating. You could hear the coolant boiling. It shut down on me in the middle of the job.

 

[ruff]

I don't know if you have it or not, or if it is related, but some CDS's have another small radiator added.

 

[bob vawter]

stat or a frozen HX line specialy if it runs UNDER the truck

 

[Kevin B]

stat or a frozen HX line specialy if it runs UNDER the truck

It's not that cold here, it got down to 31 last night. What year van?

 

[D Rice]

HX leaking back into cooling system. If you have even a small leak in your solution lines it is pressurized and will leak into cooling system. Run the unit and let it get hot. I use a digital laser thermometer to watch how coolant is flowing and if thermostat is opening and water pun\mp is working.

 

[Kevin B]

if the HX is leaking into the system of the engine, ie when your pressure pump is on for cleaning, it can push water and fluid out of coolant system and cause over heating. Check coolant levels for appropriate operating levels, follow manuals. Start van and let it run. If you have the ability to turn on water pump separate from blower leave the pump off and run truckmount. If it overheats, it's likely a thermostat, blockage, or fan clutch(If so equipped). If it doesn't overheat, turn pressure pump on and watch temp gauge closely. If it starts creeping up, your heat exchanger is bad

 

[Chris A]

Had the same thing happen and it ended up being a ruptured hx, water entering the cooling system caused it to overflow, no overheating though.

 

[bob vawter]

and i KNOW that no one here would use ever a radiator stop leak.................right?

 

[Mark Saiger]

Brother just had to replace the fan clutch on his 2006 GMC and Butler. Same thing was happening to him. Now fixed for around $200

Mark Saiger
www.saigers.com

 

[gimmeagig]

Sorry guys it took me a while to get back on to the forum. On top of everything else, I my computer crashed and I had to deal with that.
I have my truck in the shop right now because of a rumble which I turned out to be bad wheel bearings. While it's in, my mechanic thinks the cause for the overheating is most likely the thermostat.The night when the truck overheated, I opened the hood to check the fluid reservoir to see if it might be empty, but it was very full. Could that possibly confirm the theory of the bad thermostat? I sure hope that's all it is. My mechanic doesn't know anything about the CDS so I suppose it could also be something else.
You guys were talking about a RX line leaking into the cooling system. Excuse my ignorance, what is an RX line, where is it, is there only one line, can I visually inspect it to see if there is something wrong?
Also, I have not descaled my machine.The tech guy at my local supplier said I don't need to do it until some white deposits become visible at the High Pressure connectors.
Could descaling make the machine run cooler?

 

[Clean Response]

"RX" They are talking about eh heat exchangers. Like they mentioned you will know if you have a leak in one of those if you coolant is overflowing on jobs. If you do not notice it overflowing and leaking on the driveway don't worry about that. It is not the cause of over heating.

How you would know if the radiator need to be replace is check what the temp going in is verses what it is going out.

 

[FredC]

I have my truck in the shop right now because of a rumble which I turned out to be bad wheel bearings. While it's in, my mechanic thinks the cause for the overheating is most likely the thermostat.The night when the truck overheated, I opened the hood to check the fluid reservoir to see if it might be empty, but it was very full. Could that possibly confirm the theory of the bad thermostat?

It would just confirm that the engine overheated. Overheating causes the pressure in the cooling system to exceed the pressure rating of the radiator cap causing radiator cap to open to the overflow bottle.

Yes it could be the thermostat.....or fan clutch...or.....

 

[gimmeagig]

The Overflow container filled up but did not overflow, the engine temp went up to about 220-230 maybe. Nowhere near the red zone. Once the machine was off it went down pretty quickly, but the container stayed full for a while.I have a thermostat in the truck that is rated at 205 instead of the normal 195.
Like I said, I have not yet descaled the machine yet. I'm not exactly sure how to do that, I'm going to have to read the manual.I'll probably tackle that next.

 

[Kevin B]

Roxy if you need help descaling I can come over and show you. I can tell you from experience, it's not likely your problem though.

 

[gimmeagig]

I hope it is not the Heat exchanger. I looked them up at Jon Don and they are 700.- Yikes! I believe there are two of them behind my seat. How can I tell which ones is bad and can they be taken apart and repaired (at a radiator shop for example)? If not what is the best source for a replacement?

 

[Kevin B]

They have to be leak tested. Get your truck back and fire it up, see if it gets hot with pump on

 

[gimmeagig]

I'll do that, thanks Kevin.

 

[TomKing]

We had a 2008 4.8 CDS with Salsa have a lot of problem last year.
We spent a lot of time getting it right.
It turned out after a water pump went out that we had some blockage in our radiator.
We replaced the radiator and problem solved.
It took our distributor and local auto shop about a month to diagnose.

 

[gimmeagig]

I just talked to my mechanic. he told me that the thermostat was actually sticking so it needed to be replaced.The coolant was also low and not good anymore so maybe that's it.I'll pick the truck up tomorrow.

 

[gimmeagig]

I got the truck back and did a few jobs with it. Everything is fine, it really was just the thermostat. Now because it's a CDS I had replaced the original 195 thermostat with a 205. Unfortunately the mechanic couldn't find a 205 so he stuck a 195 back in.
I'll have to get him a 205 then he'll change it for me at no charge, but I'm wondering how crucial are those extra 10 degrees of heat ( which may be less than that at the wand) with today's chemicals. I'm using Esteem Attack and Chemeister Grease Eraser.

 

[Kevin B]

For every 10 degrees over 180, the cleaning power of water doubles.

I would say they matter, 205s are all over the place if you can wait.

 

[Dan]

Go with the 205. 10 degree boost is worth it and as a whole you will be 10 degrees hotter at the wand.

 

[gimmeagig]

Doug Cox hooked me up with the first 205 thermostat for my truck and he gave me the part number for Napa. I just ordered the thermostat, should be here tomorrow.