Gen 3 3.5L high engine temp up freeway grade

[MascotRejct]

So i was coming back over to Seattle from Pullman this weekend, and coming up the fairly significant grade from the Columbia to Ellensberg on I-90, when my engine got very hot. I noticed it after about 4 of the 10 miles up the climb. We were doing about 70 until i noticed, at which point I slowed down a bit to around 55, and shut the A/C off. The temp needle, in terms of 0-100 on the guage, was sitting at about 85-90. There were three of us in the truck, plus a bit of luggage. Outside temp was about 73F. I'm a little worried now for when we go on our camping trip over to steamboat rock since i'll have about 5 or 6 people in the truck plus a ski boat on the back. Is heating up on a grade while pretty light a common occurance? Anything I can do to prevent that from happening this summer when it is 90+ out?

 

[Jay Ayala]

My raider had a similar issue heading up on a slight incline. On the west side of Portland coming over the Sylvan hill, it would slowly creep up and stay up. I went through all of the typical trouble shooting things and it kept behaving the same way this past winter. I eventually removed the radiator and took it in to get it serviced at Macs Radiators. They found that the internal bits of the radiator was over 45% clogged. Now that I've reinstalled it, I only see two to three needle widths above the cold line regardless of how steep the incline is. You may want to check your radiator as it sounds similar to my situation.

 

[MascotRejct]

How much does it typically cost to get the radiator sreviced? I can grab a new one from rockauto for about $150 with shipping

 

[alex9528]

Have not posted here awhile I have the same model/year monty also. Replaced my OE radiator with SILLA brand. Never had a problem since on any steep climbs. Did the change out myself with prestone/distilled water 50/50 mix. You do need to unhook the transmission lines (2) you will lose some fluid due to leak but just refill same amount thru dipstick tube. Test drive for leak test . You can get your part number at the Silla online site.

 

[MascotRejct]

Yea, i remember taking those lines off from when I did my timing belt/head gaskets. Not too much came out of there. Luckily I have some extra tranny fluid so if I do replace the radiator I won't have to drive halfway across the Sound to get some fluid from the dealer.

 

[PirateMcGee]

Get an ultra gauge or something similar and find out the actual temp. The stock gauge can go bad/miss read.