Running hot when loaded

hardieman · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:20 pm

Mt temp gauge is reading close to overheat when towing a trailer on steep inclines. last week same thing with a load on the roof carrier. Only on hill gradients. No overheat alarm signal but I have to ease off to get it to settle. Seems to settle back down when cruising . Is this a normal occurrence? I do a fair amount of off road and vehicle is overdue for an oil change. Should I be concerned about water pump issues ?

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:23 pm

There have been reported problem with the "guages" themselves. It might just be a faulty guage. Your dealer should already know about the problem. The search function "might" (if u get lucky) find something in past threads.

I would also double check the level of your Tranny Fluid...they have been known to be left a little low from the factory in the past.

Joe Romas · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:27 pm

In the US there was a flash for the BCM (Body Control Module) and one of the things it corrected was for too high of a temperature being reported by the guage

Another thing it corrected was for the battery being drained :idea:

Something you can check is to make sure the electric fan comes on when you turn on the Air Conditioning.

BCool · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 4:28 pm

I was overheating just like you, they have a tsb out on it, just go tell them its overheating and they should find the tsb out on the guage being sensitive. I haven't towed since I got my TSB done, so i don't know if it fixes it or not.

kb61751 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:10 pm

On mine, when I tow a travel trailer, up inclines it goes up to about 3/4 and the fan comes on, then it goes back down to normal, and repeats.

HIKJ · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:24 pm

Just returned from an expedition to the Moroccan desert, pulling a light 1000 lbs adventure trailer.
No problem on the highway, even going uphill at highway speed.
But when crossing steep mountain passes, the temp gauge climbed faster than my vehicle. I had to slow down to prevent reaching the red line.
Also driving in the sand dunes, even without the trailer, the gauge went quickly towards the red.

I will inform my dealer about the existence of a TSB, but will a French dealer understand?

Please keep me informed what you all find: cooling defect or faulty gauge.

BCool · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:26 pm

Mine was very similar, it would jump to right before the Hot mark in 30 seconds flat while towing a small trailer and then right over the hill it would go normal.

RTStabler51 · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 5:41 pm

Mine has done that as well. I just assumed it was the sensitive gauge and if you slow down/pull over it drops down quick.

richardkf · **Joined:** Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:15 pm **Posts:** 167

They aren't overheating. In fact I think the TSB for the faulty guage readings when under a load may be posted in the sticky section. Go and look it up. It's a TSB for the whole guage cluster.

litton · **Posted:** Thu Dec 07, 2006 9:01 pm

HIKJ wrote:

Just returned from an expedition to the Moroccan desert, pulling a light 1000 lbs adventure trailer.
No problem on the highway, even going uphill at highway speed.
But when crossing steep mountain passes, the temp gauge climbed faster than my vehicle. I had to slow down to prevent reaching the red line.
Also driving in the sand dunes, even without the trailer, the gauge went quickly towards the red.

I will inform my dealer about the existence of a TSB, but will a French dealer understand?

Please keep me informed what you all find: cooling defect or faulty gauge.

I don't want to hijack a thread but I would love to hear more about how a Liberty behaves in the desert, sand, etc.

Pablo · **Joined:** Thu Feb 02, 2006 10:06 pm **Posts:** 1201

There was a posting awhile back about a TSB concerning a defective mechanical fan clutch that caused some of the fans to not operate at the proper RPM-- causing overheating when towing or going up steep slopes.

I have never towed with mine but have driven the snot out of it off-road in the summer here in Phoenix (115 F) and driven it on the highway with the air conditioner and a full load of stuff and bikes on the rack-- never has the gauge budged from dead center. Many of these trips were going uphill to cooler locations such as Payson, Safford, Flagstaff, and Prescott at grades of up to 8% on prolonged climbs-- often with the temps over 100F. Whatever it is causing the overheating, I'm sure it is fixable and is not a normal characteristic of this vehicle.

action · **Posted:** Fri Dec 08, 2006 10:40 am

I frequently tow my brothers 3200lb race car, we have ALOT of hills here in Newfoundland and I've never had the guage read over normal.

bigp38 · **Joined:** Thu Nov 09, 2006 5:44 pm **Posts:** 23

has anybody ever towed 5000 + pounds if so how does it handle the load

Desert_Busa · **Posted:** Fri Dec 08, 2006 9:05 pm

I have seen the temp gauge go to about 5/8. Pulling a trailer on a 117 degree day with a slight grade. I didn't weigh the load, but it was a 5x12 covered trailer single axle full of household stuff. It handled well below 70mph, and when it started to overheat I slowed to 60mph and cycled the ac. Too bad you can't just push the button to cycle the ac. I won't pull a load this big again w/o trailer brakes.

WWV · **Joined:** Mon May 15, 2006 1:01 pm **Posts:** 121

I towed my large coleman popup trailer about 1000 miles during the summer. It wieghs in at 3500lbs dry and I had it packed up pretty well. I might add that I only had about 1000 miles at the most on it at the time, so it wasn't even broke in yet.

Up from Salt Lake via I80 over to Northern CO. Driving impressions:

* Up I80...pretty steep grade. Ran like dream. 65mph to 75mph........no probs.
* Through the twisty turns to Wyoming. Got to slow down quite a bit as the weight pushes you around pretty good.
* Flats through WY. Ran about 72mph the whole time...any faster and the trailer got squirely and started pushing me around.
* Downhill portions. No problems with trailer brakes as long as I kept the speed appropriate.
* Cruise control worked flawlessly loosing 3-4 mph at the most at the steepest of grades.

I would NOT tow anything this heavy without trailer brakes. When your trailer weighs as much as you do, it's going to push you around.......do the math.

Also, some type of anti-sway system is very important. In the flats through WY, the 1st time I got it up to 72+, it darn near took me off the road once it started rocking. Took delicate touch(small slow corrections) to get that baby under control. It was scary, but it was pulling so well up until then, I found myself creeping up to speed limit of 75. :shock:

Anyways.....that's my impressions at that weight. I've towed a couple of small trailers(flatbeds, 1000lbs at most) and I didn't even know it was back there most of time.

WWV

hardieman · **Posted:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 3:58 am

Thanks for all the feedback guys, I will take it to the dealer next week and get them to run a check on the gauge . Will let you all know the outcome.

Wilmo · **Posted:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 8:16 am

Towed a 1000kg trailer through 38 degrees Celsius (100F?) at 100-105kmh on a 1200km non-stop trip and the temp guage would read up to nearly the 3/4 mark on uphill gradients. Downhill or flat would sit about 1 indication above half. Without load and around town sits just below half. The turbo is working pretty hard at this speed with the trailer load, hence the high heat. No ill effects to report. Mine has had the temp related reflash.

ColoradoCRD · **Joined:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:25 am **Posts:** 60

Within several months after purchasing my early '05 CRD I experience the overheating problem. The gauge approached hot on long inclines or when towing in warm weather. Dealer diagnosed a faulty fan clutch and it was replaced. That didn't seem to have an impact. Later, after the TSB was issued I had the gauge recalibration. Absolutely no problem since even when high speed towing in 100 degree weather.

spoonplugger1 · **Posted:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 1:23 pm

I've had no problems with overheating and towing near the 5000 lb limit. Some TSBs have been done so maybe it was fixed before. Have towed a two horse loaded trailer with 1300-1400 lb horses in it with no problems a few times and when I load down my utility trailer with firewood, it'd got to be up there also.

FastTRX · **Posted:** Sun Dec 10, 2006 2:27 pm

Dont wana get you guys off track here....(hope you wont give crap for being a gasser! :lol:

) but I've been wondering if you guys can get aftermarket temp/boost/etc. for the trim (where the grab handles are) above the steering wheel like most truck guys do w/ their diesels. My friend has them in his Cummins and I always wondered if I ever could get them for a CRD if I ever got one (want one REAL bad!). I think I may have seen a picture of one a while back but I'm not quite sure. Anyone have these and could you guys possibly post a pic or two?

Thanks you lucky CRDers!

Running hot when loaded

Who is online