Not only is it worth your truck's time to receive constant inspection for keeping cool, but it's worth your own time and money as well. Don't wait until parts are cracked and leaks are emerging. Catch your truck red handed before it sizzles up beyond repair.
Know if your truck is prone to overheating
Some trucks are more susceptible than others to heat; familiarize
yourself with your truck’s vulnerabilities.
Is it equipped with a less-than-ideally designed head
gasket? Is your engine built with other priorities in mind? A larger engine doesn’t
necessarily mean more heat resistance. Is there an old warrantee? If so, take
that sucker in for a repair.
Monitor Your Gauges
There are multiple ways that your truck will actually inform
you of its current condition so that things like overheating can be caught
before the actual overheating takes place. Few people actually check their
temperature gauges on a regular basis and it’s a great habit to start.
The fuel gauge, speedometer, and tachometer are a norm for
daily checks but don’t limit yourself to those gauges alone. Engine Oil
pressure readings (found next to your temperature gauge) the battery charge
indicator, and even the boost and vacuum gauge are all handy for keeping
up-to-date with the needs of your vehicle.
To nip a failing or overheating engine in the bud, ensure
that each time during your consistent gauge checks turns up with fairly stable
and balanced ranges. Any rapid changes should set off warning bells. In your
head that is. Repair alert!
Leaks
The guy in the car next to you motions that you roll down
your window. He points to the bottom of your truck – you have a leak. Don’t ignore
his warning, he deserves your thanks.
The coolant liquid – whether bright green, orange, red, or
pink should not be hanging out outside the perimeters of the cooling system
within your truck including the engine, transmission, brake system, transfer case,
etc. If it is, you’re prone to running out of this magical liquid, and your
cool-down rate is at risk.
Don’t delay because the later you have it fixed, the
more money will have to leak from your wallet.
The Hood
Sometimes the leak is too small to notice but causes a great
amount of damage to your engine. That’s why opening up your truck's insides is
the next necessary step.
Open up that hood and dig around and check your hoses and
lines for possible abrasion. Are your clamps holding snugly enough? Anything
that is not up to par in shape can’t hurt to be replaced.
Ensure that your coolant is properly leveled and isn’t fluctuating
in level drastically with each consistent check.
Hoses and Belts and Domino Affects
Belts and hoses are rubber, and therefore can crack, fray,
leak, or rot.
Check for these signs of wear, and check especially
vigilantly for its level of tension. If the tension is off, the alternator will
be forced to work harder than usual to transfer power to the other parts. This
extra effort put in causes extra friction, and therefore, extra heat. Much like
if you were to work extra hard at the gym and sweated it out, well, for hours.
Extra heat in the engine bay in turn raises the heat of the
bay overall, which then elicits a result in the rise of your engine’s
temperature. As this goes on, the heating continuously rises, and then 'bam', one
day: overheated. An overheated engine leads to pressure building in the cooling
system, and therefore put pressure on the hoses.
If the cause of your rising temperatures is not obvious
enough, explore the entire bay until you come across it. Remember though –
before you start sniffing around a heated hood, give it some cool-off time.
Coolant-to-Water Balance
Filling up the cooling system with only water or coolant
alone are both detrimental to the system. Both, at balanced levels are
necessary for proper cooling operation. 50/50 is the general safe way to go,
but check out your specific manual, there may be a different percentage
befitting your specific system.
Overloading your truck with heavy stacks of anything, can
never be a good idea.
Although DCCargoMall.com carries all the right qualityand hefty equipment to keep even the largest loads into place, there are safetylimits and precautions that we suggest you follow if only for the fact that you
are saving yourself money on overheating repairs!
The connection between overloading and overheating? Due to
all that extra weight, your engine is having to exert that much more effort to
stay afloat, therefore generating more heat. It may be worth it to make that
extra trip and split that load into two.
To find out what your truck’s limit is, check out your
manufacturer’s weight limits and ratings from the owner manual or on a
plate/decal inside the edge of your truck’s door frame.
Towing
Some trucks are tow trucks and others, well; you added a
towing system to after buying. This towing addition, whether before or after,
does not increase your truck’s load capacity in itself, and you will still need to abide
by the loading capacity, as well as calculating the overall load weight put
onto your truck, whether it’s on the trailer, roof, or otherwise.
If your towing setup is an addition made on your own, and
your loads are frequently heavy-duty, it is highly suggested that you upgrade
your radiator, coolant lines, and water pump to aid in dissipating extra heat.
This way, whatever heavy load you do carry, (within limits range of course)
will at least not be taxing on your cooling system.
Brakes
Various catalysts, such as a temperature fluctuation, a
pressure rise or fall, an uneven wear of brake parts, and/or even improper
braking techniques, are all ways to cause the already abrasive and high with
friction brake calipers and pads to stick to the wheels. This will slow down
the vehicle and in turn require extra blasts of energy – and heat – to function
properly. The result? Overheating.
If you’re suspecting the dragging brake situation, get to
your location if possible, and wait for cool-off time before you go prodding
into the system, that is, only if you know what your doing.
Overall
Keep everything under your hood in ship-shape to avoid the overheating
monster.
Some main functions to check first would be your coolant hoses, hose
clamps, radiator, engine belt, radiator cap, overflow container, cooling fan,
and your engine’s thermostat, among others.
Keep cool and drive on.
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Thanks for sharing with us!