2012 5.7 overheating- dealer can’t fix

[58Seamac]

2012 Ram 1500 203K miles - lifetime maxcare warranty. This month dealer has replaced waterpump (leaking), thermostat twice, fan clutch, and they replaced radiator 2 yrs ago. It’s running hot under highway loads (wind & hills - 230’s), especially in mountains of NH and I can’t currently tow as it gets to hotter (240’s). Otherwise runs excellent. Dealer reached out on their nationwide network and now suspect maybe a bad head or heads. If they tear it down and heads “appear” fine, factory rep might not cover with warranty without a smoking gun. Anyone experience overheating issues like this? Until this truck and warranty I’ve fixed everything myself my whole life, have never not figured out a cooling issue. Thoughts?
Thanks

 

[rbnhood66]

I feel for ya. My issue with my 2012 5.7 turned out to be a sticking caliper on the front that was causing the extra load to be placed on the engine. Never would have thought of it till we were changing the brakes. I was having an issue overheating pulling my trailer. Had a whole piston in the caliper that was busted and didn't hear it or notice it other than thinking my truck was out of alignment. Just saying cause it may be something other than an engine problem. New caliper installed, truck ran perfect on temp after that. May be worth looking into possible other issues. Good luck.

 

[crackerjack1957]

Suppose to be a test you can do to check combustion gas in coolant.......never seen it done so not sure how reliable it is.

https://youtu.be/k5VVcNKAK6U

 

[crackerjack1957]

Testing for a bad head gasket - Gas Analyzer vs Chemical

Is the chemical test kit Uview 560000 Combustion Leak Detector as accurate as a gas analyzer? In this video I will compare the two and discuss the variables ...

youtu.be

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Testing for a bad head gasket - Gas Analyzer vs Chemical

Is the chemical test kit Uview 560000 Combustion Leak Detector as accurate as a gas analyzer? In this video I will compare the two and discuss the variables ...

youtu.be

[Armkb]

Check the AGS in front of the radiator and make sure they are functioning correctly. They may be closed and not opening when commanded.

 

[RedSRT4Me]

What dealer is this??

 

[James OBrien]

Suppose to be a test you can do to check combustion gas in coolant.......never seen it done so not sure how reliable it is.

https://youtu.be/k5VVcNKAK6U

It works!

 

[savage_46]

Have the cooling system flushed with a water hose. Blow out all lines & heater core with air. Remove tstat so head gaskets don't get blown out.

 

[RickH]

Following up to post #2, I had a situation where my 2011QC was running just a little slow and my first thought was dragging brakes. Got home home and smelled the bacon from the right front, used the back of my hand near the wheel to confirm that it was very hot and concluded I should just check them all, (but how best to do so?) Got inspired (first time in a while) and pulled my digital meat thermometer from the kitchen and found the following readings: LF- 125*, LR- 127*, RR-126*, RF-225*. Guess I found the culprit! And confirmed my diagnosis. Simply touching the end of the probe to the rotor told me everything I needed to know. Wiped and washed the probe and took it back to the kitchen. Replacement caliper followed immediately thereafter. Trouble free since!

 

[Robeffy]

I bought a 76 1/2 ton with the slant six, 2 years old, that had an overheating problem since new, this was in 78.
All kinds of things were replaced, no joy, still overheated. It was traded in, and I picked up it up really dirt cheap.

Long story short, one of the coolant holes in the head gasket was not punched out, so, coolant flow thru the head was all messed up!

I discovered it when I replaced the head, from a 69 motor ( which had higher compression, and a better carb setup ).

That sland six pulled like my buddies 318 up to 60 mph after that... win win..

It could be a bad gasket with a plugged coolant passage that was not knocked out..it happened to me.

 

[ram4fun]

Have you checked the temperature sensor? Maybe it is showing a higher temp than it actually is.

 

[TomB 1269]

Have they properly burped the system after the water pump change? Has anyone checked the water pump to see if it was defective?
Just to confirm it was not overheating until water pump was replaced due to leaking?

 

[DILLIGAF]

Sounds like a perfect time to do the V6 fan swap as well.

 

[58Seamac]

2012 Ram 1500 203K miles - lifetime maxcare warranty. This month dealer has replaced waterpump (leaking), thermostat twice, fan clutch, and they replaced radiator 2 yrs ago. It’s running hot under highway loads (wind & hills - 230’s), especially in mountains of NH and I can’t currently tow as it gets to hotter (240’s). Otherwise runs excellent. Dealer reached out on their nationwide network and now suspect maybe a bad head or heads. If they tear it down and heads “appear” fine, factory rep might not cover with warranty without a smoking gun. Anyone experience overheating issues like this? Until this truck and warranty I’ve fixed everything myself my whole life, have never not figured out a cooling issue. Thoughts?
Thanks

Sorry for not replying to the responses, I was new to the forum and didn't realize there were any. Just for an update, the dealer tore the engine down in Oct, had the heads sent out to an engine machine shop for pressure testing / dye penetrant evaluation and also for flatness measurements to spec. They found that the heads were not within the required flatness spec from Chrysler, though there was no smoking gun of an head gasket leakage etc. They ordered new heads (approx $4K) based on the recommendation from the Chrysler Star network and after the warranty rep came to the dealership to authorize, and lucky for me that even with 203K miles it was all covered under my Chrysler Maxcare warranty except for the machine shop cost ($150 bucks) which they had explained to me upfront. I had to wait as the heads were backordered and the ongoing supply chain issues. I got the truck back the last week of Nov just shy of 3 months off the road. I thought my worst fears were realized as it appeared to want to creep up in temperature after approx 45 mins of riding, however after a week it resolved itself (assuming air worked its way out). Since I have pulled my camper and other heavy trailers and all is well. I have worked on a number of engines over my lifetime, and have still not seen anything like this. To bad Maxcare lifetime warramtu was eliminated in Dec 2019. Best $2100 I have ever spent with all the repairs I have had done since 2012. My 2 friends also just got new Hemi's with it (one at 193K miles last year, and the other is in now with $140K miles) for the failed lifter/camshaft issue that wasn't caught in time.

 

[GTyankee]

It is strange, a Dodge Garage full of so called mechanics & they forgot the basics

Compression & Leak down, Combustion tests & then break out the borescope for a visual check

 

[Mister Luck]

(edit)
NUTZ
Glad you had it fixed.

 

[Tach_tech]

It is strange, a Dodge Garage full of so called mechanics & they forgot the basics

Compression & Leak down, Combustion tests & then break out the borescope for a visual check

It’s not always that cut and dry, especially if it’s intermittent or just barely acting up.

Worked on a 4.7 that would overheat couple times a week. Passed every test you could throw at it. Compression was great, passed leak down test, tested for gasses in coolant using the fluid tester and a gas analyzer, bore scoped with no issues. Wasn’t till it was torn apart that the problem was found. Was a tiny nick in the head gasket and one head was warped by a couple thou over spec.