P2181 + Red Bolt Need help

[Craw]

I keep getting this damn code.


I feel its only on cold start if the truck sits for a day or so.

Changed
- T stat
- T sensor
- Flushed Coolant
- Replaced Battery 800+ cold amps

Wtf else can I do?

After I flushed stayed away for a few days and day before a trip, comes back.

If I clear the code, turn the truck off and on, doesnt come back and truck reads coolant temp. No idea what in the flying f**k is going on.

 

[Craw]

So I'm going to try something I should have done in the 1st place. I'm going to clean the wiring harness with alcohol petroleum based cleaner. Because when this initially happened there was coolant seeping through the piece of ship plastic sensor that comes on our 4th Gen. Trucks. I should have probably clean the dam connection before I installed the new sensor. There is probably court residue on the plug giving faulty voltage range for the sensor. The reason I think this is because when you cold start your vehicle it's not gonna be optimum voltage readings. But there is voltage range. But if the connection is dirty and you dip below a certain range it will probably throw a code untl you have adequate power from the alternator to the battery. All theoretical I will update after I clean the connections and test the next day. Using speak to text

 

[Loudram]

Let us know what you find. A good cleaner for electrical connectors is contact cleaner. You can find it in Home Depot. Most are plastic safe but not all. Read the label. This is what you want...

https://www.homedepot.com/p/CRC-QD-11-oz-Contact-Cleaner-02130-6/202262505

 

[Craw]

I found some CRC Quick Dry at AutoZone. Plastic safe and what not. Blasted it 5 times, let it air dry for an hour then took my air compressor designed for non-static computer use and got some super tiny drops out. Fired it up and sounds better already. Drag raced it, got to 203 F and then it fell back down fast to 186-190 when going 25-30 MPH. I know the sensor itself reads good because I shoot my thermogun at the sensor site and it matches. Will know tomorrow if this fixed the issue.


Side question, why is my Max HP 269? Have a V8 Hemi after all....

 

[Craw]

Fired right up, no code so far.

 

[Craw]

2nd fire up, good deal. After I drove for 10 min to get gas looks good.

 

[Craw]

200 miles, still good

 

[RAMLUVR69]

Glad it worked out for you. I went through almost the exact same thing this past fall. Did the Tstat and coolant first and when I went to do the coolant temp sensor, the POS plastic sensor literally crumbled like a old stale cookie. Tried for hours to try and pick/melt/drill the remaining threads out of the water pump housing with no luck. ended up replacing the whole water pump and again, brand new coolant for the second time in 3 days. Never touching a plastic sensor myself again.

 

[Craw]

Yeah I replaced the pos sensor with the brass ver. From autozone. It cracked in half too so had my mechanic take it out with a oversized reverse out and flush the system twice for any crap. Luckiky he is a buddy and did it for free.