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06 Chevy Duramax running warm

jdtermite

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Question for you guys. I was hauling out of Klamath Falls back towards I-5 and when I got to the top of the grade the truck temp and tranny temp went up to midway. The tranny cooled back down but the truck stayed running at the half way mark unless of course we were going down hill but anytime I had to accelerate the temp when back up. Drive the truck yesterday minus trailer and the temp went right back to that point. Any advice? The hubs thinks it may be the thermostat?

The truck temp was great going up to Weed and into Klamath Falls, but it was 32 degrees. The temp going back was 56 degrees.
 
So the truck was around 210*, and the tranny was around 200? I don't really see an issue with either of those, especially the coolant, towing. The OEM gauge shows 210* between 180 and 225, so as to not have the needle jumping around and freaking people out.
 
Yes. But yesterday when I drove the truck to pick up hay with out a trailer the truck temp ran at the same 210 and had that warm smell. The truck has just 100k on it now.
 
Your engine temp should be at 210 after it warms up. If it stays lower then you have a aftermarket low temp or simply a bad thermostat. (Running too cold.)

Check all the fluid levels. Get a flashlight and trace all the coolant hoses looking for a small leak, esp. at the firewall dripping onto the turbo heat shield. When was the last trans oil/engine oil/air filter change?

Another reason: The temp gauge simply lies because GM couldn't figure out how to keep the engine cool with this much HP under full load. Your 6 speed transmission is running 6th gear when it should not be like lugging the engine up a hill. This is simply bad programming with no variable or consideration in the ECMs to shift due to ECT rise. Yeah it has the power to do it, but, it doesn't have enough fan and water pump RPM to keep temps in line. Regardless the center 210 mark is normal and when the gauge moves past the straight up and down mark then and only then you should think about manually dropping it down a gear or other measures to keep temps from rising further. After awhile you will feel the hills that warm it up and downshift in advance.
 
We bought the truck with 50k and have changed the tranny fluid 1 time so far. The truck is almost due for oil/air/fuel filter. In case I ended up having to get gas in Oregon, we wanted to change the fuel filter, etc after this trip. Good to know that's normal running temp. Maybe is just took me by surprise because it ran at the 1st mark from weed into kf, but it was only 32 degrees out.

I will have hubby check the lines and he was going to go ahead and flush the radiator also.

Thanks for the advice..
 
Coulda had a Warm Smell since it never got that Warmed Up or Hot before, which I'll agree, Temp Gauge in the Middle is Normal.

In the Summer, mine is usually 2 Ticks below or at Half way on the Gauge.

Unless you were Smelling Maple Syrup (Coolant) I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
When not running loaded with towing at 25-30*F I usually see the 180 or so mark and when above 45*F around 210 so you're normal. Trans under those 2 conditions should be in the neighborhood of 150* and 170* respectively. 200* trans pulling heavy isn't unusual.
 
Yes, that's the smell! Very faint, but that does describe what it smelled like yesterday when I parked the truck back at home.
 
Look at the heater core under dash, passenger side. Do you have a pressure tester for coolant system and cap tester?
 
I will ask the husband if he does, if not his friend most likely will. What would he be looking for with the tester?
 
Whether or not the system holds pressure over a period of time. If it doesn't, then there's a leak somewhere

Sent from Behind the Pine Curtain
 
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My truck cruising highway bout 70*. New t stats
 
Anywhere from 170-225/230 will have the gauge reading right around 210. GM did this for the same reason most other manufacturers have done this. Because the average driver panics when they see temp fluctuations. So they just make the gauge normalize and hold at a steady point until it gets clsoe to the danger zone at which point it will jump up. if it's running in the middle, it is running where it should be running. Anything under 235 is normal temp for these engines, and is where they are designed to run. As for the trans, anything under 220 or so is fine. Even 220 isn't bad if your towing. if it has the factory DEX VI in it, it is good to around 235-240 without much breakdown. Transynd is designed to handle temps in the 260-280 range on the gauge(as that equals out to about 320-350 at the outlet line to the cooler).

Make sure you don't have any coolant leaks, but your temps sound normal to me.
 
Yup, mine has seen 236 summer towing and runs 180 winter w/ new t stats. I suggest getting an edge insite gauge set up so you have a better idea of what your truck is actually doing.

Sent from my XT1050 using Tapatalk
 
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