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Coolant temps on 19 ram 3500

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ryanjerome32

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So it’s currently-15 to -20 and my coolant temps are getting up to 230 and when it reaches 230 it drops to 220 then sets a minute and climbs back to 230 no check engine lights or anything but I’m just wondering if this is normal for this cold of weather
 
That's a bit hot. Is your radiator blocked off with a winter front?

How old is the thermostat?

Your thermostat should crack open at 190°F±3°, be full open at 207°, and really shouldn't get much higher than 215°-218° under a heavy load in the summer. The fan should really be screaming by 220°. 225° is the most you should see with a functioning cooling system, and that would be a rare occurrence.
 
It’s the one that came on it never seen above 195 before the flaps are opening and closing on the front and it never gets over 230. What’s kicking me is that it’s -20F right now and doing that haven’t took it down the road but it doesn’t seem to be having any issues was wondering if anyone had ever seen it before. The radiator does have some snow in the fins though I figured it would melt out at those temps. In case it’s not obvious I’m not used to cold weather like this lol
 
ryanjerome32 said:
It’s the one that came on it never seen above 195 before the flaps are opening and closing on the front and it never gets over 230. What’s kicking me is that it’s -20F right now and doing that haven’t took it down the road but it doesn’t seem to be having any issues was wondering if anyone had ever seen it before. The radiator does have some snow in the fins though I figured it would melt out at those temps. In case it’s not obvious I’m not used to cold weather like this lol
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103k miles on the thermostat tho
 
I'd swap the thermostat out, and I would also use a genuine Cummins thermostat.

You won't do any damage at 230°, but don't let it get any hotter than that if you can.
 
AH64ID said:
I'd swap the thermostat out, and I would also use a genuine Cummins thermostat.

You won't do any damage at 230°, but don't let it get any hotter than that if you can.
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Thanks I’m hoping it can get me through the next few days till this weather passes then I’ll fix it
 
The dash should tell you if the coolant is low, but I would verify its level.

How much snow is packed in the radiator?
 
Is it gas or diesel? The diesel is 190 tstat but gas is higher iirc

I would be amazed to see an unloaded cummins capable of those temps
 
If I put a heater in the front of it blowing across the radiator it drops to 185 and cycles 185-175 like normal. Assumed I melted the snow and pulled off as soon as I got away from the warm air going in the front it went back to doing the same thing.
 
ryanjerome32 said:
If I put a heater in the front of it blowing across the radiator it drops to 185 and cycles 185-175 like normal. Assumed I melted the snow and pulled off as soon as I got away from the warm air going in the front it went back to doing the same thing.
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185-175 is not normal at all. Its incredibly odd but also sounds like the fan is doing nothing. Is the fan moving at all it could be the fan clutch is finished
 
Should cycle 185-195, ish. Any lower likely indicates a thermostat issue, which is also indicated by your other observations.
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
185-175 is not normal at all. Its incredibly odd but also sounds like the fan is doing nothing. Is the fan moving at all it could be the fan clutch is finished
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Fan is running I was wrong it does cycle about 10 degrees above what I said
 
ryanjerome32 said:
Fan is running I was wrong it does cycle about 10 degrees above what I said
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If you turn the A/C on full blast does the fan blow harder? If you blowing air across the fins cools it down the fan is not doing its job properly
 
H3LZSN1P3R said:
If you turn the A/C on full blast does the fan blow harder? If you blowing air across the fins cools it down the fan is not doing its job properly
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It may take a while for it the A/C to command more rpms in the cold.

Yeah that interesting for sure, but at the low coolant temps the fan shouldn’t be commanded on from ECT. At the higher ECT’s the fan should be commanded on, but if the thermostat is stuck closed then the air moving over the radiator won’t matter much.
 
AH64ID said:
It may take a while for it the A/C to command more rpms in the cold.

Yeah that interesting for sure, but at the low coolant temps the fan shouldn’t be commanded on from ECT. At the higher ECT’s the fan should be commanded on, but if the thermostat is stuck closed then the air moving over the radiator won’t matter much.
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The fan will be commanded on just not full lock but at 230 it should be full lock as i believe the lock up temp is 220 for the clutch thats why i said turn the A/C on and it should lock the fan clutch at least for a few seconds its an easy test.
 
I don’t have my laptop with me to check, but I think ECT full lock is closer to 215°. A/C depends on head pressure.

I’ll often turn my A/C on to try to get the fan to activate when I’m cooling the truck down from towing and the fan doesn’t cycle nearly as often, or as fast, as I want it to for cool down. It would be awesome if we could control it thru the EVIC somehow.
 
I don't know much about diesels, but on my gas powered track car if the cooling system can't hold pressure it will overheat.
 
rb92673 said:
I don't know much about diesels, but on my gas powered track car if the cooling system can't hold pressure it will overheat.
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The pressure increases the boiling point and once it starts boiling you are gonna have overheating for sure
 
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