Over heating

I'll start this with the statement: I hate mud. A couple weeks ago I did a trail that was extremely muddy and left my truck caked in mud. After this my truck began to overheat. I have since gotten rid of every ounce of mud or dirt that I could find. Today I removed my radiator and scrubbed as much mud off as I possibly could. After adding new coolant, my truck still runs hot under load in situations such as steep hills (hit 240 degrees after a couple minutes of harsh elevation gain). Any input on what to do next to try to remedy this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you for any suggestions

 

Maybe air in your cooling system.

 

That's what I'm hoping it is. I'm going to burp the system tomorrow, but I'm not getting my hopes up that it'll be that easy

 

Might be a stuck thermostat.

 

Interesting it's overheating at speed. Could be that the condenser is packed with mud and inhibiting air flow, bad thermostat, bad water pump, air in the system or even low coolant level. When you washed the radiator, could you see air through it? Did you scrub the outside or the inside as well? The radiator relies on exchanging heat by flowing air through the center, over thin aluminum tubes. If the flow is inhibited, the heat exchange is reduced and the e gone temps rise.

 

I removed the radiator from the truck and scrubbed each side going back and forth until no dirt or mud was running out either direction. I've washed the condenser pretty well, and can feel it sucking air through at idle. Coolant levels appear to be fine, I filled the radiator back up to the top and the reservoir to the max line, and the levels have not dropped. If burping doesn't work I'll move on to checking the thermostat and water pump

 

Interesting. Was there any bleed procedure you followed?

 

Another recall or tsb coming soon

 

I bled through the bleeder valve on the bottom of the radiator with the fill cap off. Attempted to burp the system after refilling, but it never sucked any fluid from my reservoir so I thought it was fine

 

This all started after going through 3 feet of mud so it's my fault, not a recall thing

 

I'm not familiar with the bleed procedure on the 2GR-FKS but I'm pretty sure that's incorrect. Are u referring to the petcock on the driver's side bottom of the radiator? That should be how u drain the radiator, not bleed it. Air rises so you'd need a spot higher up on the engine, usually by the thermostat. On some vehicles, you open the bleeder, fill it up till fluid comes out of the bleeder then shut it and top it off. Again, not sure on the 3.5L tho.

 

OP You have air in your cooling system.

 

How about the fan. Is it spinning freely. On the second gens they are mechanical. Don’t know about the 3rd gens.

 

Yes, sorry I dont know what I was thinking earlier. I drained the radiator, not bled, and then after reinstalling I just filled it up as per my friends instructions (this is my first time working on a cooling system). So I am now confident that there is air in the system. Is there a specific procedure to "burp" the system?

 

Fan is spinning fine

 

Yap. There's gotta be. Lemme see if I can look in the PDF to find a procedure. Is there a bleeder by the thermostat housing?

 

I had the same problem I rinsed every single part of my radiator and condenser and it has actually ran cooler than before but to me it sounds like your thermostat might be going out I could be wrong but that most likely might be the issue since you cleaned out your radiator maybe give the condenser a clean again are your fins bent in anyway?

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jJl6x59HHLs

 

It's hard to think that the thermostat would go bad after wheeling in mud. I would look at all the sensors and wire connectors if there is mud or moisture stuck inside. Air inside the system can make the temp rise so burping it by putting a funnel that fits tightly into the radiator fill opening works good. You should be able to tell if your water pump and thermostat is working too by looking at the fluid in the funnel.Then again it could be as simple as the thermostat. $.02

 

Found this pic in the service manual. Bleeder is on t-stat housing. Couldn't find a bleed procedure but I'd crack it open and see if there's air in it. If there is leave it open to fluid runs out then shut it and top off the radiator/expansion tank.