TCJames Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 (edited) 12 hours ago, 5rebel9 said: Pardon my "butt in", but For the age of vehicle and knowing of the thin radiator core with integrated trans cooler and a/c condenser, I'd rather believe that a clogging radiator to be more suspect than clamps. Thank you. I did put the clamps in around the ypipe. I also noticed that one of my hoses was sloppy when I spliced in the aluminum ypipe into the heater supply, so I replaced that section with a new hose. I do think there was some evidence of leakage there. I'm changing the oil today and going to send off a sample for analysis. I had done an exhaust gas on the coolant and a pressure check. I was definitely though getting air leaks at times into the system even after it was well bled. The coolant system was normally showing obvious failure around 224. That does not seem to suggest radiator as the system would just gradually climb to overheating without a coolant circuit failure. I agree the radiator could be an issue and that is probably my next repair if the system fails to control the temperature again. I back flushed both heater cores at one point and they seem to be working well now. I probably will replace the radiator no matter what sometime in the next year and clean out the condenser fins well. I was trying to share some ideas since several people had similar issues but no one ever reported a resolution. Edited August 9 by TCJames add details and grammar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John/Horace Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 Sign of leakage… glycol out usually means some small amount of air going back in too. If you went to an aluminum thermostat housing I assume a new thermostat was installed. The crazy priced oem thermostat is a better quality unit than some of the cheaper aftermarket ones. But mine works fine with a cheaper Gates made unit for 4 yrs now. Like 5Rebel9:is saying, rad age matters. It’s not necessarily internal blockage as much as heat transfer fins bent over and dirt bugs etc slowing air flow just enough to add a few degrees. My original rad has about 150k mikes on it now. I expect to change it soon. Our cooling fans I think are two speed units. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJames Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 (edited) Quote Like 5Rebel9:is saying, rad age matters. It’s not necessarily internal blockage as much as heat transfer fins bent over and dirt bugs etc slowing air flow just enough to add a few degrees. My original rad has about 150k mikes on it now. I expect to change it soon. Our cooling fans I think are two speed units. I agree and the fan or the car moving seems to control the temperature fairly well when the coolant is circulating through the radiator. It will peak at 219-221 as expected under normal stress and then the fan will knock it down. I ran some light finger nozzle tap water through the condenser and fan to get some bugs and grime out but indeed at some point the radiator will need to be replaced. The fan does seem to have at least a low and high speed. I will look at either a Nissens or Mopar radiator at some point in the near future Edited August 9 by TCJames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJames Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 Quote If you went to an aluminum thermostat housing I assume a new thermostat was installed. The crazy priced oem thermostat is a better quality unit than some of the cheaper aftermarket ones. But mine works fine with a cheaper Gates made unit for 4 yrs now. Yes I replaced the housing and the plastic crossover with aluminum replacements. I will probably look at upgrading the thermostat back to an OEM spec one when I end up doing the radiator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5rebel9 Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 (edited) Many "regulars" on the forum here know of my connection with an independant shop owner friend. He maintains a taxi service fleet of 10 various year T&C/ grand Caravans. We've had quite a hot summer here south of Buffalo,NY and therefore ended up replacing the radiators on 4 of those 10 this summer to take care of much the same situation you and a few others have posted of. Van radiator is not cheap, you may want to invest in a laser pointer heat gun to "shoot" temp readings up and down the radiator.. Markedly lower temps down low would indicate poor flow from sediments trapped in the core tubes of the radiator, which means less heat transfer overall and higher temps especially slow speeds or idling. On all 10 he has gone to aluminum "Y" pipes and T-stat housings along with making sure of proper fan operation. Many times "backflushing" these radiators is not enough to remedy the problem. Edited August 9 by 5rebel9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJames Posted August 9 Report Share Posted August 9 (edited) @5rebel9 thank you for the information! The plastic parts on the radiator will only tolerate so many heat cycles anyway. its a good repair. I will definitely look at this. What I've done is still good to eliminate leaks but yeah the radiator has been on my radar and now I have the data to say this could be the answer! Edited August 9 by TCJames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJames Posted August 10 Report Share Posted August 10 I'm glad I found this forum. Apologies if I spam it. There is such a huge pool of Pentastar users and I appreciate all the forums where I can find answers or inspiration. I will hopefully check in from time to time to see what's up. Thanks @John/Horace for inspiring me to send off an oil sample for analysis. I'm pretty sure I have solved all the leaks, even the ones that were just showing at extreme temps. The system seems to be controlling the temp for now but sometime in the near future replacing the heater cores and radiator make sense to make the system more or less like new and help that engine have many more miles of life as the Pentastar is a solid engine outside of a few issues thanks to a great design influenced by Mercedes who make great engines. John/Horace 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCJames Posted August 30 Report Share Posted August 30 Well my oil analysis showed no water or coolant which was good. According to Titanlab my oil test showed normal wear which is a good thing. 2late4u and John/Horace 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daniel Anderson Posted December 4 Report Share Posted December 4 (edited) Although I never had these symptoms I can say a radiator can get dirty. Rural road dust. I was surprised. What I did was remove mine and replaced it (nine years old possibly) (it can be done without disturbing freon charge). A sticking ("cold" 75 C) thermostat (MIL) The engine oil temperature was ten degrees cooler. Replacement in the Fall when the MIL appeared again now the thermostat stays from 80 C to 90 C in Winter months. So no longer stuck. Edited December 4 by Daniel Anderson Clarification Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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