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2003 Silverado 5.3 tractor hauler.Still over heating!

D

dej(Jed)

Well-known Member
Yep: I am back again. I changed the clutch fan, flushed the radiator twice, blew out the fins and changed the thermostat.No head or intake gasket issues.
Truck runs fine empty. Hook the trailer on and add a tractor to the trailer and it heats up on hills. Runs up to 230 or so and then comes back down after you climb the hill. I am now thinking water pump and then radiator. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
If it's not boiling over, it's not overheating. If, indeed, you have no leaks, it shouldn't boil over until 260F or more. Is it boiling over?
 
[
230 isn't close to overheating!











quote="dej(Jed)"](reply to post at 05:00:54 08/04/14) [/quote]
 
Does the truck have an automatic transmission? And
if it does, does it have a separate Oil Cooler for
the trans. (NOT the one in the radiator) ?

:>)
 
Considering "normal" operating temp is in the 205 to 225 range (varies from engine to engine - gauge to gauge) hitting 230 under heavy load in the heat isn't much of an issue.
 
Believe it or not, 230 is okay. 240 to 260 is too
hot. There was an issue with some 5.3 engines that
had bad castings in the heads, if I remember right
they were Castech ? heads. BUT , the issue there
was slow loss of coolant into the oil over time and
not overheating under load. If it really bothers
you, a bigger radiator will be needed, not just a
new replacement of the same size.
 
dej(Jed, I had a car that did that, got under had someone rev it up and when he did the bottom radiator hose collapsed, put on a new hose and end of problem.
 
Touch the bottom hose lightly so you don't get burnt to see if it's hot. Your pump impellers may be worn and not circulating enough coolant. Hal
 
dej(Jed), IMO reverse your order, Send out the radiator first before you pull the water pump.
My gut tell me your radiator is stopped up either internally or externally!
I have Never lost a water pump that wasn't first leaking like a sieve! If the weep hole is leaking coolant out then you probably have a problem.
What thermostat temp reading did you put in?
Also Are you sure there isn't a lot of weeds, grass, bugs in between the AC coils and the Radiator?? Stopping air flow!
After the radiator is out then inspect the water pump.Hope this helps!
Later,
John A.
 
Once again, I think you are looking for trouble where there is none.
First, you are treating a cheap GM gauge as if it were a precision instrument. It is NOT. IF.....you were to put an ACCURATE temp gauge into the mix, you might find that the gauge on the instrument panel is off by a bit.
Second, it is NORMAL for an engine to make more heat when it is WORKING - as in pulling up a hill with a load.

The overwhelming response to your perceived problem has been that it is NOT a problem. Yet, you keep throwing parts at it, and this is at least the third time you are posting it.
 
stop at napa and get a bottle of purple ice or similiar product. it conditions the coolant for better heat transfer. works pretty good
poke here
 
Do you have a big tranny cooler blocking half of the radiator?? I made that mistake once, putting all that tranny heat into the radiator, especially climbing long hills with the converter unlocked, I could see the gauge climb and then on top after the converter hooked back up it would go back to 200 or so. Just a thought.
 
I had a 4.8 3/4 chevy, same block, and mine did that. The belt looked fine, but I felt pretty dumb after trying other things and it ended up being the belt. It looked good, no cracks or anything, but it had stretched.

I didn"t read all the replies, so I don"t know if you"ve already counted that out or not.
 

I'll join in with it ain't hot. The '13 Mack that I drive now and then goes up that high all the time. It's part of the whole emissions thing. better burn. less fuel. less pollution.
 
I agree-the dash gauge may be inaccurate, and , when they are, they tend to read high.Get an infrared thermometer and read the block temp where the sender unit is for the dash gauge; read the radiator temp at the inlet. If it is not boiling coolant out the overflow, I would not worry about it. Mark
 
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