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2008 5.3 K1500 Chevrolet Silverado running warm when towing their camper

jrsavoie

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Rural Clifton, Illinois
A friend has a 2008 5.3 K1500 Chevrolet Silverado running warm when towing their camper.

Any advice would be appreciated.

First thing I recommended was checking his stack and cleaning.

Changing his fluids to synthetics.

What does it take to service the transmission on that truck?
 
What gears? How big of a camper? A/C on or off make a difference in temperature on the gauge? Is it all flat ground, or are there hills?
 
Fan clutch
He has electric fans

What gears? How big of a camper? A/C on or off make a difference in temperature on the gauge? Is it all flat ground, or are there hills?

Mostly flat as a pancake ground. A/C on. No idea on gears or camper size. It's what we call a yuppie truck. crew cab short bed 1500 4x4. Not sure what they usually came with for gears

He wants to install a bigger trans cooler. I don't see that as ever being a bad idea - unless it blocks the airflow to the radiator.

Any thoughts on this helping much?

A degree here and a degree there with different mods can really add up.
 
@jrsavoie

If he does not know what rear gear the truck has and can locate the code for the rear end this could help your friend.

This chart says 1992-1993, but I do believe it would be accurate on all GM year models if I am wrong correct me.

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The big question is, what does he consider hot? The electric fans won't come in until the temps climb up a good bit.
 
Ok, curiosity got me, so I went and pulled up a tune file to see what they run at. What I did find out is there are 2 different electric fan assemblies, a 5&7 blade unit, and a 7&9 blade unit. The 5&7 blade unit normally uses 500 watt motors, and lower blade pitch. The 7&9 blade units used 700 watt motors, and more aggressive pitch. There is also 3 or 4 different fan designs of each one, but unless it has the k5l rpo, it most likely only has 500 watt fans. And even the k5l rpo doesn't guarantee that it has 700 watt motors and 7&9 blade fans unless it is a 2010+. With that said, GM didn't offer electric fans with the hd tow package for most pickups because they knew they couldn't keep up.

I'm atatching the factory fan table that shows what it runs at for engine temp, and ac high side pressure for the heck of it. You'll see at 221 is where it really starts ramping the electric fans in, so it sounds like it is working as designed. He could swap fans to the k5l from a pickup or suv, but make sure it is out of a 10+.0922180145.jpg0922180145a.jpg
 
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