Overheating of my CRD

marauderer · **Posted:** Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:07 pm

Today I was going down I-70 heading West and about 50 mi. East of Oakley, Kansas about 11 am with the outside temp at 99 deg F my temp gage went up about 1/4" on the gage. I mean it was 3/16" on the high side of the middle. Gage usually runs about 1/16" under the middle, in fact it has never moved beyond that since I got the vehicle. Anyway I was only running 85 mph, in overdrive but not locked up, turning about 2600 rpm, and towing a small trailer (2000 lbs) with three large adults in the car and another 150 lbs. of gear in the back. So I backed down to 75, locked up the TQ in OD and the temp stated to come down and then it went up again so I backed down to 70 mph and temp slowly returned to normal. I finally stopped and check the antifreeze and oil levels and they both were good. Oh did I mention that there was a 40 mph cross wind blowing. When I stopped to check the fluids i also stopped for lunch. Upon starting up again it has been right where the temp should be.

Anyone have any idea why the temp spiked???

bugnout · **Posted:** Tue Aug 01, 2006 11:24 pm

Were you drafting anyone? I've found that if I get in behind a trucker, the temp goes up significantly. Once in clean air it goes down again.

marauderer · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:13 am

bugnout wrote:

Were you drafting anyone? I've found that if I get in behind a trucker, the temp goes up significantly. Once in clean air it goes down again.

The best I can figure is the cross wind interupted the airflow through the radiator. The day before this happened I was running in Missouri and the temps outside was 107 deg F for hours and the cooling system was great. The cross wind was at least 40 mph and it wasn't gusting is was constant. Oh well, Thanks for the input.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:18 am

There has been a known malfunction of the temp guage on the CRD. Another thread had more info on this...I think it was fixed with a "flash".

marauderer · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:33 am

DarbyWalters wrote:

There has been a known malfunction of the temp guage on the CRD. Another thread had more info on this...I think it was fixed with a "flash".

I had a flash done and it improved some but nut much. I am watching the transmission and TQ and they are still rough. I will search for the thread on the temp gage malfunction.

tired_old_dave · **Joined:** Wed Feb 22, 2006 3:45 pm **Posts:** 79

According to siberia at the e forum whose scan tool worked before the latest flash and like i postulated a long time ago there and comfirmed by a motorcycle rider--the just before high noon on the gauge now represents all temperatures from 165 to 195 fahrenheit-if I understand his post correctly. Can anyone confirm or deny this

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:33 am

This happened to me too last weekend while towing. I just figured it was an oversensitive gauge since once I got back to cruising type speeds it dropped down to 'normal' really quick.

loyalp · **Joined:** Mon Aug 29, 2005 1:21 pm **Posts:** 41

Well, I was also on I-70 in that wind and that heat, towing a trailer! What are the odds?

We started in Kansas City and ended in Colorado Springs. I got 14 mpg at one point. Now back to around 21 in normal driving. Had the exact same temperature issue with that wind, and I don't think it had anything to do with a flash update. It had to be that cross-wind causing the trouble. I have since plowed right up Wolf Creek pass at 65 to 70 mph with the trailer and the temp. gauge barely even climbed. No wind that day.

DZL_LOU · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 9:54 am

DarbyWalters wrote:

There has been a known malfunction of the temp guage on the CRD. Another thread had more info on this...I think it was fixed with a "flash".

I read the flash TSB, but my temp gauge only goes up to half mark and stays there regardless of the ambient temperature condition of the environment.
Maybe I should just go and get the temp gauge re-flashed, but it's strange that it never goes beyond the half mark!

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 10:42 am

DZL_LOU wrote:

DarbyWalters wrote:

There has been a known malfunction of the temp guage on the CRD. Another thread had more info on this...I think it was fixed with a "flash".

I read the flash TSB, but my temp gauge only goes up to half mark and stays there regardless of the ambient temperature condition of the environment.
Maybe I should just go and get the temp gauge re-flashed, but it's strange that it never goes beyond the half mark!

Mine never did either until I threw some weight behind it. I towed my dual axle trailer ~750 miles with no issues, but once I threw a car on it, it happened.

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

I had mine flashed for the temp gauge issue last year. Today, while driving stop and go, the temp gauge went 3 marks above the halfway - about 1 mark below 3/4 all the way to red. Easy driving, even slow acceleration. It normally nevers comes off of just below the middle mark. As long as I was in stop and go, it stayed there - as soon as I hit the Interstate, it slowly dropped back to halfway. Outside temp read 101F. Straight driving, no towing. This is the first time since the flash it has moved past the halfway mark.

oldnavy · **Posted:** Wed Aug 02, 2006 7:06 pm

Ranger1 wrote:

I had mine flashed for the temp gauge issue last year. Today, while driving stop and go, the temp gauge went 3 marks above the halfway - about 1 mark below 3/4 all the way to red. Easy driving, even slow acceleration. It normally nevers comes off of just below the middle mark. As long as I was in stop and go, it stayed there - as soon as I hit the Interstate, it slowly dropped back to halfway. Outside temp read 101F. Straight driving, no towing. This is the first time since the flash it has moved past the halfway mark.

I find this a bit troubling and think back to my '00 VW TDI Beetle driving down the interstate in TX/OK with outside temp 114*F and me doing 80 mph with a cartop carrier and loaded with eveything the wife could pack into the car and the engine temp never went above normal. I may have to check out another VW for my next car, or better yet an SUV with 10 screaming cylinders of 300+ hp and 565 lbs torque. :roll:

RFCRD · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 5:57 am

Ranger1 wrote:

I had mine flashed for the temp gauge issue last year. Today, while driving stop and go, the temp gauge went 3 marks above the halfway - about 1 mark below 3/4 all the way to red. Easy driving, even slow acceleration. It normally nevers comes off of just below the middle mark. As long as I was in stop and go, it stayed there - as soon as I hit the Interstate, it slowly dropped back to halfway. Outside temp read 101F. Straight driving, no towing. This is the first time since the flash it has moved past the halfway mark.

Any chance that reflash 18-023-06 messed with the calibration of the temp gauge? I have never seen mine over the 1/2 way point, even drove it the past two days in mid 90's temps.

Ranger1 · **Joined:** Mon Oct 17, 2005 7:40 pm **Posts:** 1137

Possible thats what happened. Surprised me. Haven't seen this in a long time. Its a really bad feeling to see that temp gauge wander up that high. My wife drove the V6 Liberty the same day and it was fine. Temperature on the V6 overhead console read 102F. No problem on the 02.
I'm at the same place now as retmil46. I'm looking for another replacment vehicle for the CRD. Once I find something I like better, this one is gone.

RFCRD · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:21 am

Ranger1 wrote:

Possible thats what happened. Surprised me. Haven't seen this in a long time. Its a really bad feeling to see that temp gauge wander up that high. My wife drove the V6 Liberty the same day and it was fine. Temperature on the V6 overhead console read 102F. No problem on the 02.
I'm at the same place now as retmil46. I'm looking for another replacment vehicle for the CRD. Once I find something I like better, this one is gone.

I'm quickly coming around to the same place. Had to screw with this way too much for a new vehicle. Will keep mine one more winter, maybe trade my old Chevy truck and the CRD for a new Silverado when their new model is out in the Spring. Just buying time until something better comes along.

marauderer · **Posted:** Thu Aug 03, 2006 7:40 am

Ranger1 wrote:

Possible thats what happened. Surprised me. Haven't seen this in a long time. Its a really bad feeling to see that temp gauge wander up that high. My wife drove the V6 Liberty the same day and it was fine. Temperature on the V6 overhead console read 102F. No problem on the 02.
I'm at the same place now as retmil46. I'm looking for another replacment vehicle for the CRD. Once I find something I like better, this one is gone.

I am going to keep mine as I feel all the new vehicles cars/trucks/motorcycles have flaws. There isn't a perfect vehicle out there. Go to any forum for a specific vehicle and you will hear of major problems. So I will spend a bit on preventative maintenance and flogg the crapola out of my CRD and enjoy the heck out of it.

Fortunately we live in the USA and we have choices.

Ride your own ride and enjoy the journey becuse if you don't enjoy the journey and you don't make your goal you will be one pissed off person.

retmil46 · **Posted:** Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:02 am

Something additional to check for - check the coolant surge tank and/or try doing a partial drain of the cooling system via the radiator drain. See if there's any sand/sludge/etc. Might be there's some crud in there that's finally decided to work it's way loose.

I noticed that after 2500 miles I had a boatload of sand accumulated in my surge tank, and when i drained down the cooling system to remove the surge tank, got just as much if not more sand out of the radiator drain.

Shortly thereafter the dealer did a flush on the cooling system, and there was nothing visible in the surge tank until the last 2 or 3 weeks since they replaced the EGR valve. Apparently when they had to monkey with the EGR cooler and it's connections, they disturbed a chunk of crud that was still lodged in the system. Now, I've got black crud accumulating in the surge tank again.

Place to check on the surge tank is on the passenger side, just in front of where the vent line from the radiator connects to it. The surge tank is divided into compartments, and the one just in front of this vent line is where any solid material seems to really accumulate.

Also, you can raise the hood on a sunny day, such that there will be light shining down thru the surge tank, then crawl underneath the vehicle and look up at the bottom of the tank. If it looks black, then you've got sand/crud in your surge tank.

In addition, you can check the radiator simply by draining a good quantity of coolant into a bucket thru it's drain, and letting it sit for a few minutes.

Overheating of my CRD

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