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Overheating Mystery

25K views 16 replies 7 participants last post by  kooshball  
#1 ·
Hi, this is my first post. I have 1995 Yukon4x4 5.7liter gas I purchased 5 years ago. I have put 15k on it since I purchased it. It has been a great running truck. The temp gauge has always read around 180 give or take a 2 or three degrees under all conditions. I do not loose any coolant and the truck seems to run great other than the overheating issue. The coolant appeared clean and theres no sign of rust anywhere in the system.
Last fall while driving on the beach in sand it began to run a little warmer than norm(195 or so). I didnt pay it much attention. During the winter all seemed fine. When spring came, I noticed it was running 200 or so. Being proactive and knowing I pull a camper (3600lb), I put a water pump on. It didnt make any difference. I put a radiator on it and it made no changed at all.
Went to the beach in early may (no camper). While driving in the sand the temp woud climb to 220 sometimes 230. It usually would take less than 5 minutes to get that warm. I also believe if I had continued to drive the tempeture would have continued to climb. I would stop or get out of the sand before it got any hotter and it would slowly return to 205 or so.. On the way home from the beach it ran 205 to 210 it was also a hot day on the trip home.
After getting home I put a thermostat 195 Failsafe on and it made no changed at all. I removed the transmission line from the radiator and ran an extra trans cooler as a test to see if the trans fluid could be getting hot. That made no changed at all. I purchased a sunpro temp gauge and installed it and it read the same temp as the factory gauge. I had the catalytic converter check to see if it was clogging and it came up as good as new. I put a new 15lb stant radiator cap. I burped the system several times. Iput in new hoses.and belt. I let the thermo cycle with the cap off and never seen any bubbles and to see if it appears to be flowing good and it appears to flow fine. The fan clutch was checked by me and the mechanics. When cold it will turn only as far as you turn it with your hand. It sounds like a jet under the hood for the frist minute or two after starting calms down and when it begins to run hot it is the same jet sound.
Being frustrated I took it to a local shop I trust and they keep it fir a week and couldnt pin it on any paticular thing. They said it could be the heads leaking(no water in the oil or oil in the water}.I ask would that fix it and they said it MIGHT fix it. I got the truck back and decided to take it to a radiator shop who has been in business since I was a kid (i am 44yrs old). They cannot find the problem. They did a compression test on the heads and said they are fine. They took the radiator apart to ensure something wasnt clogging it up and it was fine.
Some other symptoms: While driving if I give it wide open throttle it will rise 10 degrees or so and then fall back to 205 or so within a minute or two. The normal temp seems to change with the tempeture outside. in otherwords. 80 degrees outside 200 to 205. 70 degrees outside 190 to 195 and so on. Any time under a load it begins to climb to 230 or more. I did let it get to 250 once.
I am at complete loss. I have done so many things to it I may have forgot to list them all. Although I am not a mechanic, I have done nearly all my maintainance on all my autos since I got my first car. I dont know what else to do. I dont know what else to check. Posting on a few forums is my last attempt. Any input or thought will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks Monroe
 
#2 ·
Is the Check engine light on??? And It sounds like you are running incredibly lean.... Have you pulled the plugs and taken a look at them.. Something that might help would be to try the seafoam treatment to clean out the intake, and carbon build up...
 
#3 ·
Combustion Chamber Gas Tester

:sign0016:to GMTC. A great place to hang out for all things GM.


Well, you certainly have done your homework. Very thorough, and good detail provided. Let's see if we can get you some help. In the end we all learn from each others experiences, good and bad.

A lean running engine can certainly run hotter and that would be worth looking into. The CTS (coolant temperature sender) is part of the emissions system. Normally when it fails, the ECM adjust the fuel mixture rich, which causes hard starting and smoking when a vehicle is warmed up. I have not experienced a CTS fault that causes the fuel mixture to go lean, but perhaps one of our other members will chime in on that.

I would be tempted to take the thermostat out entirely just for comparison. The radiator shop did a cooling system pressure test which is usually very good to pinpoint cooling system leaks. You might want to test the coolant for the presence of combustion chamber gasses as a back up to their test.

Info on combustion chamber gasses in the cooling system: Troubleshooters.com

GMTC thread on the tester: Post 30522

Keep us posted and watch for more info.

Tester for about $35 - $45

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#4 · (Edited)
I was talking about a lean condition from a fault in the Spider injector assembly, or something along those lines.. I have a TBI and was having an incredibly lean condition (i was running 220-230 at times) from a bad ful pump and fuel pressure regulator. My pump would work great at start up and the fuel pressure would fall off enough to starve the motor down and run lean. After i replaced the pump the motor stays at 190-200..
I wouldnt rule out a coolant leak or possibly a crack in the head allowing the gases to get into the coolant however..
 
#5 ·
Thanks Guys.

The check engine light has never came on before.
I have not looked at the plugs. I guess I didnt think of it because it seems to run so well. I will do that.
I will look in my book to locate the CTS. It doesnt sound all that expensive. I will plan to change that also.
I thought of taking the thermo completely out as a last resort. Hopefully I dont have too.
I will also see about the combustion gas checker and get it or get it ordered.
If the truck is running lean enough to over heat, how noticable will it be as far as idling and under acceleration. If it run leant and not be noticable that will definitly be something to look into. I am trying to get all the info I can for my next day off. Which is Wednesday. When I figure this out I will post the fix for sure.
Thanks Monroe
 
#7 ·
I just realized that you have a TBI like me.. Alright well my motor was a bit down on power after the first few minutes. And stayed that way till i parked it. My plugs looked very lean. And i did a fuel pressure test. I know that i was supposed to have 12lbs, and it would dip as low as 10 on a test and stay running. The CTS is about $8 and takes about 5 minutes to change.
Something to take a look at is the injector spray and make sure it is atomizing well at idle..
 
#9 ·
Thanks for all the help guys. Got up this morning and did a test to see if there are exaust fumes in my coolant and it passed. Then I changes the CTS " Coolant Tempeture Sensor". Not the one going to the gauge but the one that goes to the computor. The sensor has fixed it. I cant make it go over 195 degrees. All that work and one garage and one radiator shop and a $16.95 part fixed it. Apparently it was causing it to run lean. It doesnt read exactly as it used to. But if I can make it overheat, it will be good enough for me.
Thanks to everyone Monroe
 
#11 ·
My problem was the CTS. The more I drive it after putting on a new CTS the better it got. Apparently the ECM needed time to make adjustments,
It runs exactly as before. The gauge reads around 185 or so and never moves more than a needles width. No matter what I tow.
Thanks Again
Monroe
 
#12 ·
Along these same lines I was driving from Louisville, KY to Bowling Green yesterday in my 2001 4.8 Tahoe. Engine temps were at 210 (on gauge) as it always is and it was a 90* day.

About half way there, the engine just died. I finally got off the side of the interstate and tried to re-start and the engine would not fire up. It tried to start (almost like it was flooded out) but wouldn't. We sat there for about half an hour and it did start and then died again. After about another half hour, I got under the truck and jiggled the wiring around the fuel pump harness at the tank and it started again. At that point, we drove back to Louisville with no problems.

Once I got back to town, I have a steep hill to climb to get to my house. Soon as I got to the top and let off the gas, it stalled again but started right up.

During all this bad trip, my Coolant Light had come on. I have a small leak somewhere up front and I end up putting about a quart and a half of anti-freeze back in it and it's good to go for a few weeks. It has never stalled on me like that before now.

Is it possible that my temp gauge is wrong and the car gets too hot causing the engine to shut down or could it be the start of a bad fuel pump? I have never had a "boil over" and it always runs around 210*.

I'm not sure if the wired I jiggled around the fuel pump and anything to do with it or the sitting for a half hour had anything to do with it.

If anyone has had this problem...feel free to jump in.
 
#13 ·
So these motors have two sensors to read coolant temperature? One goes to the computer and one goes to the gauge in the dash?
I wonder why there are two sensors(and why is one called a sender-they must both send info)?
Where are those sensors? I have a 98 Suburban which is a little different(different FI setup), but probably mostly like your Yukon 5.7. I will keep my eyes open for this cause of overheating.
 
#14 ·
The sensor going to the computer is behind the thermostat housing on the intake. The one for the gauge is on the right side head (facing the motor with the hood up). It is right between the first two spark plugs.
I seen a mechanic take a 4.3 liter blazer that suddenly stopped. He thought it was the fuel pump and he climbed under the truck and tapped the fuel tank with a rubber mallet and it started up. He said the pump was going bad and needed to be replaced. He APPEARED to know exactly what was going on. Perhaps when the pump begins to starve the truck for fuel ,but not enough to stop it all together, it is running lean and causes the overheating.
It also sounds as though it could be a vapor lock. This is my best guess. I am not a mechanic but I do nearly all the work on my own vehicles.
Good luck