When I first made my long pull with my 99 it started to warm-up a bit as well. Being unfamiliar with diesels, I got off the fuel and tried to give it a break. That didn't work, you've got to keep your revs up and make it work and not lug it. I second that blowby fix and cleaning the rad, it made a huge difference on mine.

 

that is a NEGATIVE Captain. after the tranny fluid leaves the tranny, it is pumped though a heat exchanger mounted underneath the turbo/exhaust manifold on the passenger side of the block. then it goes into the cooler infront of the radiator. the only reason that someone would bypass the heat exchanger is to put twin turbo's on and need the room on the side of the block.

 

Thanks all; the blowby bottle is gone (was that way since I bought the truck a few months ago) and all that's there is the drain hose; no oily residue on the inside of the radiator, just a few bugs between the AC condenser and radiator.

Good ideas on flushing the system and cleaning the radiator. I can blast it from the backside with a hose to dislodge bugs and crap and see what happens. Also, will change the thermostat just to be safe. How 'bout the fan clutch - should I just spend the 70 bucks and change it out? Napa has a Four Seasons severe duty unit for 70 and the dealer wants 225.

I found a B&M supercooler with an external fan and am wondering if that would do any good. Is it possible that the trans fluid is heating the engine coolant through the heat exchanger under the turbo? if so, would it do any harm to bypass the heat exchanger?

Mike

 

hmm, i just went over to my brothers and looked, the lines ran directly from the trans, right to the cooler, no exchanger there??? we have owned that truck since it had 0 miles, maybe a factory glinch or maybe not done of certain truck years??? ill have to get you guys a pictures.

 

I was gonna say, I don't remember my 2000 havin that....

 

Had the same thing happen to me, when I got up and over the Big Horn mountains to Buffalo wy. to the inlaws I jumped on the computer and hit the forums and they told me to check and then clean the radiator. This can't be done while in the truck very efficiently but only takes about 30 minutes to pull it. Took it to the local car wash to clean it and holy crap it didn't look all that dirty but I blew a ton of oily dirt out of it. The next day after I had it all put back together again we hit the road and it made a hell of a difference, no more heating issues at all.pulled an 11% grade and never went over 190*. At the same time I also threw away the blowby bottle and legthened the blowby hose to down behind the front differential. Ive told my story to several others with heating issues, they pulled and cleaned their rads and problem solved. Cheap and easy fix.

 

yeah, i just went out and double checked, there is no "heat exchanger" on that truck(98.5) ill go over and check out my buddies 99 and see as well. but i can say this, it would not surprise me if for trucks ordered to go to places up north where it is colder then crap out durign the winter, that it was an option put on those trucks to help wram the tranny is those temps. being around dodges my entire life, i can tell you, no two vehicles were ever built identical. theyve all had something different, even though they were optioned alike.

 

didnt have time to read all this but runnin the A/C will hurt ya bad on EGT's

yes do check the air cooler and rad for pluggage from oil puke bottle spill over............I have seen that bad bad bad b4

 

im going to be cleaning mine this evening just as a precautionary event and extending my blowby tube

 

My 02 doesnt have a heat exchanger. I know, I just removed the lines to change the tranny. What is this blowby bottle you guys are talking about? I know I need to move that because my radiator was nearly clogged up with oily crap. I removed it and cleaned and flushed it and havent been above 190 since.