My van overheated

[Bryce C]

At the end of a job I heard my coolant bubbling. Seems like I got lucky and came out right when the engine was beginning to overheat, so I hope. It's still cooling down now.

I replaced my water pump, thermostat, and heater core several months ago, but I did not replace the radiator. Maybe I should have. I'm not even sure if my radiator is clogged and caused this overheat. Or if I somehow lost enough coolant without seeing any leak at all that the cooling system lost it's prime and overheated. I'm leaning towards a clogged radiator.

Dwain-o, I was looking for the post where you told me your recommended replacement intervals for every part of the cooling system. Would you mind sharing that with me again?

Whats your guys favorite color and type of coolant? My 2013 chevy express 2500 recommends orange dex-cool, but I have read some folks say it's the worst of all coolants and leads to clogs and other problems... what do you think? What is the best coolant ever?

I may have a faulty radiator fan, or some other problem. This sucks, the weather is still tough over here for outdoor mechanical work

 

[Bryce C]

I read the Great Oz say that the fan clutches become faulty and the engine fan doesn't spin enough, but that there is someway to pin it so it is always fully engaged. Have any of you guys done that?

I also read that Butler replaces the stock engine fan with a racing engine fan to improve cooling performance when idling. Have any of you guys done this on your direct drives?

 

[Dwain Ray]

At the end of a job I heard my coolant bubbling. Seems like I got lucky and came out right when the engine was beginning to overheat, so I hope. It's still cooling down now.

I replaced my water pump, thermostat, and heater core several months ago, but I did not replace the radiator. Maybe I should have. I'm not even sure if my radiator is clogged and caused this overheat. Or if I somehow lost enough coolant without seeing any leak at all that the cooling system lost it's prime and overheated. I'm leaning towards a clogged radiator.

Dwain-o, I was looking for the post where you told me your recommended replacement intervals for every part of the cooling system. Would you mind sharing that with me again?

Whats your guys favorite color and type of coolant? My 2013 chevy express 2500 recommends orange dex-cool, but I have read some folks say it's the worst of all coolants and leads to clogs and other problems... what do you think? What is the best coolant ever?

I may have a faulty radiator fan, or some other problem. This sucks, the weather is still tough over here for outdoor mechanical work

Do you have electric fans or fan and clutch. If fan and clutch, bring engine to temperature in gage the pto and bring up to speed look at fan. Is it spinning at what looks like a fair speed or does it seem slow? If you can reach thru the grill,Can you feel air being thru the radiator?? . Is there alot of crap in your coolant (i assume you put new in reasonably ) can you lower the radiator coolant level enough to inspect the first few row in the radiator? If coolant is clean, i would be leaning more towards the fan clutch or thermostat. I know you said you replaced the thermostat. But that doesn't mean you didn't end up with a crappy Chinese defective one. I would tell you how t try to stop the fan to test the clutch but it is far to dangerous to tell someone how to do. If your coolant is clean and the first couple of rows of heater core is clear i would say clutch or thermostat. As far as throwing out and replacing cooling system parts i really dont do that. I replace systems as a part goes bad like you waterpump,thermostat, hoses. But not radiator heatercore fan clutch ( unless fan clutch is 10 or so years old and i have it off while changing waterpump) . When i get back to the shop i can pull the factory repair manual fot my 1998 chevy and see what official test process and or procedures are to test the fan clutch for you

 

[Dwain Ray]

I read the Great Oz say that the fan clutches become faulty and the engine fan doesn't spin enough, but that there is someway to pin it so it is always fully engaged. Have any of you guys done that?

I also read that Butler replaces the stock engine fan with a racing engine fan to improve cooling performance when idling. Have any of you guys done this on your direct drives?

As far as coolant color goes newer engines use specific colors/coolants because of the additives requirements of specific engines. Long gone are the days of green coolant. Generally speaking gm is orange,ford is yellow, and asian is pink

 

[Dwain Ray]

Now might be a good time for me use this situation to defend and explain why the installation of a 25' retractable hose reel hooked up to my fresh water system is an important and handy if for nothing else.... when seconds matter..... no un hooking, fumbling to remove disconnect and_or removing quick connects. Just grab and spray