Engine overheat

JohnnyChaps · 08-04-2018, 03:22 PM

We are halfway through a x country trip in a 2015 30 ft class c Chateau from Poughkeepsie, NY to Los Angeles. Some of the highlight stops are Badlands, Yellowstone, Arches, Vegas, Sequoia, Sacramento, and now in LA.

We had a few minor issues from loose wires on the pressure switch on the water pump, the window handles popping off the big side windows, to blowing circuits on friends houses when trying to plug into shore power with an adapter to reduce the 30 amp down to a normal 20 amp outlet.

The thing that almost shut us down was when we were traveling from Sacramento to LA on I5 in the summer heat. We had been cruising along at 75 mph for a good couple hours after fueling up and just as we hit the hills after Grapevine near Fort Tejon the temp gauge on the dash started rushing past the normal spot. I immediately pulled over and shut down to try and minimize any damage. I checked under the hood expecting a broken hose or belt or at least leaking some kind of fluid, but there was nothing. The engine compartment was hot as hell but no damage could be seen. I let her cool down and started it up again and all was back to normal. I creeped over the rest of the mountain with the blinkers on in the truck lane at 20 mph staring at the temp gauge wait for any sign she was heating up again. No more issues and we made it to LA last night with no other signs of overheating.

Anyone else experience a temporary overheat situation with no visible issues? Any advice for troubleshooting?

Thanks!

woody · 08-07-2018, 01:39 AM

We had a similar situation last year when we were out west. It turned out to be the cap on the coolant recovery tank was apparently cross threaded at the factory. It was never a problem at sea level but when we started going up to higher elevations the engine started to overheat. A service tech found the cross threaded cap. After the cap was properly threaded we didn't have any more overheat problems.

The Gritz Carlton · 08-07-2018, 11:55 AM

Not sure what you mean by "rushing past the normal spot" but it's not unusual, under extreme conditions and mountain climbing, for engine temps to rise a little. If it does it again, maybe just stay in it for a bit longer and see if it stabilizes at a point just a bit higher than normal during the stress, obviously shutting down before extreme. The fact that you had no other issues is an indication all is OK. There are those moments that, when climbing the hills under stress, it seem everything is getting red hot and the entire coach is fixing to explode. Turn the radio up, stick in some ear plugs and start praying!

DanChateau33SW · 08-07-2018, 05:08 PM

I had a 2013 RAM 2500 Cummins and always pulled my trailer near sea level or through the WA mountains. We took a trip out from Seattle to MT, WY, SD, and ID. Headed across I-90 in MT, the temp gauge and the trans temp started to gradually climb to temps I had never seen and was getting pretty nervous. No warning lights or alerts...all temperatures seemed to be elevated but stable. I started asking around, and the temps I was seeing were perfectly normal for the truck. At higher elevations, the ambient air isn't going to cool as well as the thicker air in the low lands. So when we started climbing the Bighorn Mtns. in WY, at 10,000 feet doing 65mph on cruise control, the truck performed flawlessly.

Moral of the story - keep an eye on the temps, they may elevate and we get nervous, but they may still be in the normal operating range for the design of the vehicle. If they exceed the normal range, warnings will flash and tell us.

Hope you have an uneventful trip back.

petew · 08-07-2018, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyChaps

We are halfway through a x country trip in a 2015 30 ft class c Chateau from Poughkeepsie, NY to Los Angeles. Some of the highlight stops are Badlands, Yellowstone, Arches, Vegas, Sequoia, Sacramento, and now in LA.

We had a few minor issues from loose wires on the pressure switch on the water pump, the window handles popping off the big side windows, to blowing circuits on friends houses when trying to plug into shore power with an adapter to reduce the 30 amp down to a normal 20 amp outlet.

The thing that almost shut us down was when we were traveling from Sacramento to LA on I5 in the summer heat. We had been cruising along at 75 mph for a good couple hours after fueling up and just as we hit the hills after Grapevine near Fort Tejon the temp gauge on the dash started rushing past the normal spot. I immediately pulled over and shut down to try and minimize any damage. I checked under the hood expecting a broken hose or belt or at least leaking some kind of fluid, but there was nothing. The engine compartment was hot as hell but no damage could be seen. I let her cool down and started it up again and all was back to normal. I creeped over the rest of the mountain with the blinkers on in the truck lane at 20 mph staring at the temp gauge wait for any sign she was heating up again. No more issues and we made it to LA last night with no other signs of overheating.

Anyone else experience a temporary overheat situation with no visible issues? Any advice for troubleshooting?

Thanks!

Had a friend with an F250 and while traveling on the interstate it developed a problem where every 75 - 100 miles the temp gauge needle would literally take off and park (pin) itself in the to the far right in the hot zone.
First time it did this we pulled over ,got out inspected everything and satisfied there was no overheat issue we got back on the road.
A few miles later the gauge returned to normal.
It did this several more times at 75-100 mile intervals during the trip.
The problem was a gauge or sender issue . Never figured out which as he sold the truck .
Bottom line is that gauges can be wrong.
Other possibility is a sticking thermostat.

brucev · 08-07-2018, 07:23 PM

I have a 27K so a bit smaller than yours and usually have a toad or boat in tow and we live in SoCal. We regularly take Cajon Pass and I have not had any trouble with overheating, but then we don't do it at 75. I try and keep it within the best powerband rather than speed. I am okay slowing to 45 or 50 when climbing a steep grade so that I don't overstress things. I also have a scangauge so I know the temps rather than location on the gauge.

Like the above post, it would help to know how far above normal the needle went. Good luck and safe travels.

JohnnyChaps · 09-01-2018, 11:01 PM

The needle was heading to the red real fast like the thermostat was stuck. We made it back to NY with no other problems, so I think it must have been a onetime issue.

I read a couple other posts that said it was probably a stuck thermo. Considering I didn’t have any other issues I think that may have been it. We drove past a lot of other cars that were sidelined with the hoods open and radiators steaming up that hill. I am guessing it must be a known problem in that stretch of road.

Cason61 · 09-01-2018, 11:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnnyChaps

The needle was heading to the red real fast like the thermostat was stuck. We made it back to NY with no other problems, so I think it must have been a onetime issue.

I read a couple other posts that said it was probably a stuck thermo. Considering I didn’t have any other issues I think that may have been it. We drove past a lot of other cars that were sidelined with the hoods open and radiators steaming up that hill. I am guessing it must be a known problem in that stretch of road.

Long time ago I had that problem. Yes, it was a stuck thermo and yes it overheated and blew the cap. Maybe check this out before you get like me, on Road with nothing for 40 miles at night. Lucky for me next morning we found an RV place there to fix it. Then later on we got to really fix it with lots more stuff being replaced to get it to run right.

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