Overheating after leak?

[John Hickman]

Towed our 5th wheel to Hot Springs, AR and truck overheated because of a coolant leak at the o-ring in the EGR cooler inlet tube. After repairing the leak and refilling the radiator the truck is fine for about 30 minutes of driving. After a while the temp goes up to 220 to 223 and stays there. After stopping and letting the engine cool I added a gallon of coolant, then drove the truck and the same thing happened.
Could there be air in the coolant system causing this or what???

 

[smithwessn]

How bad did it over heat? You may have warped/cracked a cylinder head or smoked a head gasket.

That being said, it is entirely possible that it's just air trapped somewhere in the system.

 

[John Hickman]

How bad did it over heat? You may have warped/cracked a cylinder head or smoked a head gasket.

That being said, it is entirely possible that it's just air trapped somewhere in the system.

When it overheated it went to 242 to 246, for about 15 minutes, but never higher than that.
We drove the truck again today, same thing happened. All was working fine, thermostat was opening and closing as it should. Temp varied from 186 to 195. Stopped at the store for about 20 minutes, no fluid on the ground, the engine started heating to 220 on the way back. We stopped and let it cool to 170 and I added a gallon of coolant and it stayed at 186 to 195 the rest of the way back.

 

[buddy guy]

maybe some more input over here could help you? my first blush at it is head gasket, too. but I wouldn't say for certain.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4th-gen-powertrain/619792-normal-6-7-operating-temps.html

 

[crackerjack1957]

Coolant got to be going out exhaust if no leaks or not in oil.
Have a pressure test done to confirm leak at cylinder/cylinders.
Trapped air in system could cause above normal coolant temps but not all the coolant you had to put back in.

 

[Tach_tech]

If you’re having to add coolant. There is either air in the system and it’s being worked out. Or there’s a leak, wether it’s internal or external.

The most common leaks I see are the water pump and the EGR cooler. Water pump is a pretty easy leak to find. EGR cooler you’ll really only see if you take the tube off at the cooler. If it’s clean,shiny and a little wet, the cooler is leaking. The burning coolant pretty much steam cleans the cooler and tube, and it’s mostly burned before it gets to the engine so you won’t have any white smoke.

 

[John Hickman]

maybe some more input over here could help you? my first blush at it is head gasket, too. but I wouldn't say for certain.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4th-gen-powertrain/619792-normal-6-7-operating-temps.html

Thank you sir, there is a wealth of knowledge there and here!!

 

[buddy guy]

you bet. its awesome what you can find out

 

[John Hickman]

If you’re having to add coolant. There is either air in the system and it’s being worked out. Or there’s a leak, wether it’s internal or external.

The most common leaks I see are the water pump and the EGR cooler. Water pump is a pretty easy leak to find. EGR cooler you’ll really only see if you take the tube off at the cooler. If it’s clean,shiny and a little wet, the cooler is leaking. The burning coolant pretty much steam cleans the cooler and tube, and it’s mostly burned before it gets to the engine so you won’t have any white smoke.

Thanks Tach_tech, the truck is running great all the time while it is running hot. It has not misfired at all. I know there is no coolant on the ground and the oil level is at normal all the while. The truck had a delete kit on it when we bought it and we took it off and replaced all the EGR parts with used parts. I'm hoping that is where the problem is found.
Since my last post I've found that there are bubbles coming out of the radiator fill hole, with the cap off, while the truck is running. Would that in itself be an indicator of where the leak might be???

 

[Tach_tech]

If there’s bubbles in the coolant. There is air in the system. Could be from residual air or combustion gases are getting getting into the coolant.

 

[John Hickman]

If there’s bubbles in the coolant. There is air in the system. Could be from residual air or combustion gases are getting getting into the coolant.

Thanks for the help. The truck is going into the shop, somewhere, Monday and hopefully it will not take forever to find/fix the problem!!!

 

[madtrucker2016]

maybe some more input over here could help you? my first blush at it is head gasket, too. but I wouldn't say for certain.

https://www.cumminsforum.com/forum/4th-gen-powertrain/619792-normal-6-7-operating-temps.html

if it is a head gasket wouldn't you have water mixed in the motor oil and blowing blue smoke or white. I think it is air in the system it happened to me on another Ram I had . I would change the stat and flush out the system and when filling Jack up the rear so the engine is sort of level. So this way air does not get trapped in the block at the rear. Run it with the cap off for about 15 mins and close and cross your fingers like I did

 

[Tach_tech]

if it is a head gasket wouldn't you have water mixed in the motor oil and blowing blue smoke or white. I think it is air in the system it happened to me on another Ram I had . I would change the stat and flush out the system and when filling Jack up the rear so the engine is sort of level. So this way air does not get trapped in the block at the rear. Run it with the cap off for about 15 mins and close and cross your fingers like I did

Not always no, it depends where the head gasket has failed and how bad. I’ve worked on vehicles with very intermittent overheating issues with no white smoke or mixed oil/coolant, that had failed head gaskets. It just needs to be enough of a failure to create air pockets in the system which leads to it overheating.

 

[Ratket]

What type of coolant does it take? And what type did you put in?

 

[madtrucker2016]

Towed our 5th wheel to Hot Springs, AR and truck overheated because of a coolant leak at the o-ring in the EGR cooler inlet tube. After repairing the leak and refilling the radiator the truck is fine for about 30 minutes of driving. After a while the temp goes up to 220 to 223 and stays there. After stopping and letting the engine cool I added a gallon of coolant, then drove the truck and the same thing happened.
Could there be air in the coolant system causing this or what???

One thing is for sure do not keep driving with the engine overheating you will warp your heads then big money problems

 

[John Hickman]

if it is a head gasket wouldn't you have water mixed in the motor oil and blowing blue smoke or white. I think it is air in the system it happened to me on another Ram I had . I would change the stat and flush out the system and when filling Jack up the rear so the engine is sort of level. So this way air does not get trapped in the block at the rear. Run it with the cap off for about 15 mins and close and cross your fingers like I did

Thanks madtrucker2016, those were my thoughts also. Since this overheating has started I've added 4 gallons of coolant/water and I think the system holds 5 gallons total.

 

[John Hickman]

One thing is for sure do not keep driving with the engine overheating you will warp your heads then big money problems

Totally agree, overheating is deadly to any engine or transmission. We have extended our stay here until we get this problem fixed!!

 

[madtrucker2016]

they make a lube fluid for the cooling system it comes in a pint size bottle, I think its made by RED LINE.I had a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a 4.7 and was having a overheating thing going on. Did a flush and changed the stat, added some Cooling system lube ,got from Pep Boys and all was normal. One more thing when getting the stat some have a air bleeder built into the stat Mopar uses this type it lets trapped air Out of the system.Its looks like a bee bee in a punch hole mounted in the corner of the stat

 

[John Hickman]

One thing is for sure do not keep driving with the engine overheating you will warp your heads then big money problems

Totally agree, overheating is deadly to any engine or transmission. We have extended our stay here until we get this problem fixed!!

What type of coolant does it take? And what type did you put in?

I use a universal 50/50 coolant.

 

[madtrucker2016]

50/50 is a rip off your paying full price for them to add half the jug with water. you have water in your house get it from their and buy a full bottle next time. Is your coolant green or redish color