Over Heating

i need to figure whats wrong and if anyone has had this problem, 3 weeks ago on a monday i had my AC serviced and several AC hoses replaced, less than 10 driving miles later on tues, my heat meter goes from 205 (it has never been above 205 in its entire life my wife and i have had it since day one and been the only drivers) to pegging at 260, i pulled over right away and poped my hood, my dexcool in the reservoir was at a ROLLING BOIL, and ,my rad was bone dry. the boiling point for dex is about 280 i believe and at 300 things melt, im worried i scored my cyllenders and overheated my trans, it just aint running right, its been to the dealership 4 times since, the first time the day after the overheat they said my radiator cap was loose and thats all... BULLS**T!! it wasnt loose i looked! day later its overheating again by 35 degrees, they flush my system and say they found rust in it and replaced my AC compressor due to the noise complaint about the engine roaring like a cold start in winter but all the time. took it back again, it was running 5 degrees to hot for being that truck but i cant complain about 5 degrees, however the roaring is still there my engine has lost 30-40% of its accel and if you have one you know these things have balls, they can take off! but now it wont and if i get on the highway it wont shift in any gear until 5000rpm, they said they found nothing wrong just added some oil, now my oil press is too high, its overheating again, and my trans is shifting harder and slower than it ever has, i took it back for this and they said they couldnt duplicate the problem, i told them in the first place it took an hour and a half before it happened they wont drive it for that long. im getting a second oppinion, but i could use some advice... and insight, os it possible i damaged my head gasget, scored my cylenders and heads, and toasted the hell out of my trans? and thats why im losing power and overheating? and why the f**k wont they fix it!? im still under original warranty (will be getting a UAG extension)... so anyways, HELP!

If it were me I would schedual an appt with the dealer and drive the truck for you said an hour and a half b4 problems start then take it to them while it is acting up if they still say nothing is wrong I would find another dealer and have them look at it you definately have a problem and need it fixed are you getting a check engine light?

what year is your truck? how many miles? this is important.

some thoughts ...

a loose drive belt or failing belt tensioner would lead to overheating and loss of power. Is your belt tight ? It should be fairly tight.

I'd replace your rad cap with anything that is not ACDelco. They have a known defect. I'd recommend Stant brand. Easy and cheap to do. ACDelcos are known to leak which prohibits the cooling system to sustain the proper pressure which f@#$%^&s with the boiling point of the coolant, etc.

are you loosing coolant? unscrew your rad cap first thing in the morning (after engine has cooled completely). Is your coolant up to the brim of the radiator? Is your overflow tank sufficiently full?

If you had boiling coolant with a bone dry radiator, I'd replace the thermostat ($7 woo hoo!). Easy to do yourself! Once that is done, if you still have a bone dry radiator, you have a bigger obstruction and I'd recommend reverse flushing.

I'd trouble shoot most tranny problems first with a tranny filter change and top off the fluid that is lost from changing the filter. Not too expensive.

Engine roaring at take off can be something as simple and harmless as your fan viscous clutch. Do a search on the forum and see if that is your symtoms.

Check your oil at the dipstick. If too full, let some drain out of the pan. Too full is not good.

Good to hear you pulled over immediately after overheating. If you're really concerned with your head gaskets and such, check for oil in your coolant and/or coolant in your oil - look at it - smell it - any foaming ?




i need to figure whats wrong and if anyone has had this problem, 3 weeks ago on a monday i had my AC serviced and several AC hoses replaced, less than 10 driving miles later on tues, my heat meter goes from 205 (it has never been above 205 in its entire life my wife and i have had it since day one and been the only drivers) to pegging at 260, i pulled over right away and poped my hood, my dexcool in the reservoir was at a ROLLING BOIL, and ,my rad was bone dry. the boiling point for dex is about 280 i believe and at 300 things melt, im worried i scored my cyllenders and overheated my trans, it just aint running right, its been to the dealership 4 times since, the first time the day after the overheat they said my radiator cap was loose and thats all... BULLS**T!! it wasnt loose i looked! day later its overheating again by 35 degrees, they flush my system and say they found rust in it and replaced my AC compressor due to the noise complaint about the engine roaring like a cold start in winter but all the time. took it back again, it was running 5 degrees to hot for being that truck but i cant complain about 5 degrees, however the roaring is still there my engine has lost 30-40% of its accel and if you have one you know these things have balls, they can take off! but now it wont and if i get on the highway it wont shift in any gear until 5000rpm, they said they found nothing wrong just added some oil, now my oil press is too high, its overheating again, and my trans is shifting harder and slower than it ever has, i took it back for this and they said they couldnt duplicate the problem, i told them in the first place it took an hour and a half before it happened they wont drive it for that long. im getting a second oppinion, but i could use some advice... and insight, os it possible i damaged my head gasget, scored my cylenders and heads, and toasted the hell out of my trans? and thats why im losing power and overheating? and why the f**k wont they fix it!? im still under original warranty (will be getting a UAG extension)... so anyways, HELP!

well its fixed sort of, it was under warranty when this happened, its a 2003, i just bought an extended warranty because im in the military and dont have time to work on my vehicles myself like i would much rather do, i had everything checked, took it to a dealership about 40 min away to get outside of the city, they had it for 2 weeks, took it apart and put it back together, said they found nothing, but now it runs better, go figure. i do preventitive maint, so nothing in this truck goes past its prime usability, i didnt know about the caps tho i will look into that, there is a pepboys down the road.
i havnt lost coolant since the fateful day of the overheat and since i had the overheat happen again a day later, thermostat already replaced, trans is clean and was examined by the dealership (the good one lol) so was all my fluids, never saw any foaming but i did smell burning coolant until i brought it to this new place, so im thinking the first shitty ass dealership didnt put something back in place just right and when my new shop took everything apart they inadvertantly fixed it... who knows... as for the roaring, it is still there its better it only happens for the first 15 min on and off of run time, and when i floor it when i hear it it goes away at 3000rpm and stays gone till i make a full stop again, also when it roars i can feel a loss of power... days like this make me miss my own shop but now im in NC without any of my equipment so... i have to trust other mechanics...

well its fixed sort of, it was under warranty when this happened, its a 2003, i just bought an extended warranty because im in the military and dont have time to work on my vehicles myself like i would much rather do, i had everything checked, took it to a dealership about 40 min away to get outside of the city, they had it for 2 weeks, took it apart and put it back together, said they found nothing, but now it runs better, go figure. i do preventitive maint, so nothing in this truck goes past its prime usability, i didnt know about the caps tho i will look into that, there is a pepboys down the road.
i havnt lost coolant since the fateful day of the overheat and since i had the overheat happen again a day later, thermostat already replaced, trans is clean and was examined by the dealership (the good one lol) so was all my fluids, never saw any foaming but i did smell burning coolant until i brought it to this new place, so im thinking the first shitty ass dealership didnt put something back in place just right and when my new shop took everything apart they inadvertantly fixed it... who knows... as for the roaring, it is still there its better it only happens for the first 15 min on and off of run time, and when i floor it when i hear it it goes away at 3000rpm and stays gone till i make a full stop again, also when it roars i can feel a loss of power... days like this make me miss my own shop but now im in NC without any of my equipment so... i have to trust other mechanics...

I had the roaring problem on my van. The clutch on the fan was locing up. $100.00 part and replaced it myself. Problem Solved