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deuce running hot?

redneck rebel

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ok, my dad has our duece in texas right now and is planning to move to michigan (using it to haul stuff and tow his pickup and willys). like tomorrow.

ANYWAY.

he changed the radiator, and flushed the engine, and put all new gauges in it (as most were aftermarket). he ordered some gauges online (I am in michigan and unable to see whats going on).

ANYWAY. Now the truck is running at like 220 ish degrees. he is afraid to drive it up here at those temps. new 1000 dollar radiator from some online company. fresh coolant. new gauges. he said he let it run and went out and saw it at 190 but then climbed back to 220 (idling).

are they a pain to burp? does he need to run it hard for a while to get any air bubbles out? Not sure how to advise him at this point. I advised getting a cheap autometer gauge just to make sure his gauge is working right or giving the right temp. not sure he has done that or not.

its 85 in texas btw right now.
 

palskidoo

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My deuce has been running really hot as well lately. She peaks at 240 degrees even in the bitter cold we've had recently here in the Northeast. Last summer she never passed 210, even in the heat wave while we sat in traffic for a country concert. Could it be just bad temp gauges?
 

doghead

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Verify the temp with an IR gun.
 

redneck rebel

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Verify the temp with an IR gun.
Yeah that is what i told him to do. he told me that its sitting closer to 230.

he thinks its the water pump as he feels it has "lack of flow" the truck has 27k on it. hes trying to decide if its work trying to drive accross country like that. everything is new. coolant/radiator etc.

ill check with him in a bit and see if he got a IR gun or not.
 

redneck rebel

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My deuce has been running really hot as well lately. She peaks at 240 degrees even in the bitter cold we've had recently here in the Northeast. Last summer she never passed 210, even in the heat wave while we sat in traffic for a country concert. Could it be just bad temp gauges?
That's what I think. I struggle to think its bad water pumps. but I dont know if these are aluminum or steel or if corroding is an issue for them or not. never had one apart. in my experience if a pump isnt leaking or making noise its good. as bearings "usually" go before fins deteriorate.
 

redneck rebel

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Could the thermostat be stuck closed a little?
he said he took the tstat out and boiled it in water and watched stage one open at 165 and stage two at 180 or something like that just like it said on here it was supposed to do... sorry forgot to update that. I told him to take tstat out but apparently you cant run them without a tstat...
 

mbehne

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I'll 2nd having to run the wheels off mine to get to 180deg, 160-170ish is normal. I have ran several long parades in 100deg weather without going over about 170deg. The only times I remember 180deg is pulling the boat(4k lbs) @ 50mph or really long runs on the highway. I wouldn't drive it the way it is without verifying the temp with an IR or fixing the issue...just did a head gasket job and it wasn't all that bad but I wouldn't want to make it a habit, or worse yet an engine swap.
 

cattlerepairman

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Can we run this without a tstat? We are thinking this maybe the prob but can't get one by tomorrow. Can we safely run without it?
The only thing the t-stat does is keeping the circuit through the rad mostly closed when the engine is cold. So, running without the t-stat is not an issue; under normal circumstances the truck would run cool (cooling system running at maximum cooling capacity all the time). People drive them even without the rad fan; the engine will not overheat unless idling at a standstill or under high load at slow speed.
 

greg2560

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Are you running a thermo coupler gauge??? If that is what you are running it should be pretty close to what temp it is.. If you are running a electronic gauge it might be off... Make sure you are using the correct sending unit and the gauge grounded good... Mine is stock and it showed to be running hot.. turned out to be a bad ground where the gauge was mounted in the stock gauge panel.. Gave it the old technical smack and it went to working lol
 

welldigger

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The only thing the t-stat does is keeping the circuit through the rad mostly closed when the engine is cold. So, running without the t-stat is not an issue; under normal circumstances the truck would run cool (cooling system running at maximum cooling capacity all the time). People drive them even without the rad fan; the engine will not overheat unless idling at a standstill or under high load at slow speed.
Not entirely true. Diesel engines need cylinder temperatures to be at a certain level for proper combustion. Cooler is not always better with a diesel.

That being said as long as you are driving and not idling much it shouldn't be a big problem to remove the thermostat temporarily.
 

Reaper651

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Ok, goofy question. You said it has fresh coolant. Is it mixed 50/50 with water or is it strait coolant? I know that might sound stupid but I made the mistake of running strait coolant in my pickup one time and it ran a lot hotter. I know we are talking about two different animals here but just a thought. Also, on the tstat being removed, in some instances, when a tsat is removed, it will allow the coolant to pass through the radiator too fast, not having enough time in the radiator to cool and the water temp will actually be hotter without it. I know that sounds crazy but I have seen it happen. Oh, one other thing, when the new radiator was installed, could there have been a dust cap or shop towel accidentally left in one of the coolant ports? Lol I once did that before too.:cookoo: Best of luck finding the issue.
 

61sleepercab

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I bought a VW one time that in the past would run hot on the road especially on grades. Turned out after new radiator, exhaust, coolant, the fan impeller was a loose fit on the water pump shaft and would slip at higher rpm resulting in poor coolant circulation at road speed. It took a good mechanic to catch that fix. Mark
 
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