Need a little help !

[Wood Hick]

I agreed to buy a buddies old T-Tag dump truck, 1980 GMC, 350 motor, 8ft power angle plow, pretty good shape. Its been sitting in the barn three years. Went for a ride before laying down the cash, water pump went out. He put on a reman. pump and called me back today. Took it for a ride, overheated, thermostat stuck ! Removed thermostat, added coolant, went for a ride, overheated again. I am no mechanic, but with no thermo and a new waterpump, what else is there ? Coolant is circulating through the radiator, no leaks at the waterpump. I had the plow all the way up, could this retard the airflow to the radiator enough to overheat ? I notice alot of guys travel with the snowplow just a few inches above pavement, is this why? Could there be other issues from sitting still for three years ? Help !

 

[Torin]

How quick did it overheat? If quickly, maybe head gaskets?

 

[lone wolf]

could be the head gasket a pressure test may tell you, or a warped or cracked head any grey color to the coolant any air bubbles in the coolant when running or it could be a clogged radiator but have a mechanic pressure test the cooling system.

 

[Wood Hick]

Problem solved by a local mechanic. There was no fan shroud on it. Evidently without this the fan cannot cool the rad. correctly. 90 bucks later Chevy dealer supplied new fan shroud, so far so good !

 

[esshup]

Throw a T-Stat in it when you can. That slows down the water flow allowing the heat to dissipate via the radiator. Without one, you could circulate the water too quickly, and the radiator won't get a chance to cool down the water.

A guy at work overheated his 1/2 ton truck running down the highway with the plow on it. Not enough airflow thru the radiator, I guess. The fan shroud forces the fan to pull air thru the radiator, without it the fan can suck air from behind the radiator, causing the problem that you had.

 

[ronnyb]

To answer your question- yes the plow blade can restrict air flow. Our plow trucks are all diesels, and when its below zero and we are traveling between sites we keep the blades up to help keep the truck warmer.

 

[treemandan]

I would think if the fan and shroud ( and the rest of the cooling system) was wroking ok the plow would not cause any overheating. The plow up could cause underheating but I thinks it would be nominal. The fan and shroud pull a lot of air... at least they should.