I have been having overheating probs for a while. I stay at 160 when the outside temp is below 70 degrees. Above that, the sky's the limit. I have a grade I drive that's not too steep but it's about 10 miles long. In the cooler weather (below 70) I stay right at 160. anything above that and I overheat. at 80 degrees I reach the red zone on my gauge by the time I hit the top of the grade. In traffic in the above 70 degree weather I can hit 240 after about 20 min.

Why does a slight change in ambient temp make such a drastic (80 - 100 degree) diff in coolant temp??? I'm sure there's a thermodynamics explination!

 

that is strange.

what kinda of coolant mixture are you running?

 

I'm honestly not sure! I am sure that it's no where close to 50:50. Probably mostly water. We used to run straight water in our big John Deere's in the summer (Florida, 100 deg +) to keep them cooler so I didn't even think about the mixture on my TA.

 

Do you have an intact airdam?

 

I have the center section only. Someone (I can't remember who) told me that the two outer sections wern't important. Bum gouge??

 

The air dam is important for going down the road at highway speeds. It funnels air in through the radiator. Have you checked to see if your fans are working? They are needed for the slower speeds. When its cold out you could run without the fans for the most part. But when its warm or hot then ,ofcourse, they are needed. However if you have been running hotter then 240 for any period of time you might have warped a head. Which will eventually blow a head gasket. It can be minimal at 1st and will get worse.

 

Do you not mean 240?

 

Thanks RMK

 

could be a screwy gauge or sending unit...

did u have a boilover yet?

do the fans/fan come on at a specific temp all the time... no matter what the temp is could be 260 or 210... if somone has another gauge try and use thiers to see if the temp gauge is faulty... if u can scan the temp sending units with a digital multi meter check for specific ohm ratings?