Sudden Engine Overheat

Driving to do some work related stuff 35miles from my house. Made it to my first stop temperature was normal. Drove 5 more miles (at around 60mph) and engine temp spiked to red on the access road and truck starter beeping. Dropped speed to 45 and temp dropped below red but still high. Stays at second line but below red while idling. AC does not change the temp. Truck is 2017 TRDOR with 40k miles.

Suggestion from mechanic buddies is stuck thermostat.

Asking the great thinktank of Tacomaworld.

 

That or radiator is clogged with dirt, etc.... It's happened to a few after off-roading and not thoroughly cleaning afterwards.

 

That was my first thought, would it do this 100s of highway miles after my last trip? Since the last time I was offroad, I have driven to Dallas (250 miles each way), Austin (130 miles each way), Buffalo (TX) (130 miles each way) and several weeks of daily commute (16 miles each way) from Houston. All with no issue.

 

Thermostat was stuck closed.

 

X2

 

Made it home. Truck was fine for about 30 minutes. Got stuck in stop and go traffic because of accident started to heat up, turned on heater which made it cool down. Made it about 20 more minutes down the road then it started to heat up again even with heater on full blast. Just made it home when it got to the upper bound of operating temp. Going to go ahead and clean the radiator after lunch and such just incase, though seems clear.

Before I call the dealership, does anyone know off the top of their head which warranty the thermostat would fall under? Still under the Powertrain warranty I believe but everything else has fallen off.

 

Tstat stuck as others have said, assuming a couple of things.

Nothing is blocking radiator airflow. Road trash like plastic bags or even styrofoam can do that

The fans are operating

Turning the heat on full tilt drops the temp a bit.

Radiator cap is in place, coolant is full.

Not something to diddle with. You dont want to lose a head gasket or warp a head.

 

The heater is a small radiator!

 

Good call on using the heater full blast. I was a bit worried in your first post when you mentioned the AC haha

 

I use your engine fan turning on too? It should, if you are idling you can also try to rev the engine to about 1500rpm and help the water pump work more efficiently. If you are driving down hill, you can try coasting for as far you can go.

 

Did your heater ever stop getting hot? Or did the heater keep blowing hot air the whole time? There's a plastic crossover pipe on the rear of the engine that has been known to crack.

 

Maybe vapor locked

 

Fan clutch fail probably. The fan will still appear to turn, but the fan will have no torque if the clutch failed, and won’t move enough air.
Other likely issues causing this:
- water pump impeller broke
- stuck Tstat

 

So, was it low on fluid..??

Do you see leak on driveway..?


Look at the by-pass at back of motor, like someone already mentioned.
Good Luck

 

Hell, if you're under warranty why even risk limping it home? Just call for a tow and send it in.

 

Just cleaned the radiator really well. There was some mud. Though, it seems odd that would cause it since that was from over a thousand miles ago. I am usually pretty diligent with cleaning after playing in mud. I'm going to look like a fool if this fixes it.

Going to go on a short jaunt.

Coolant levels are fine. No noticable leak. Fan appears to be spinning when the truck is running. Heater runs hot as hell when it is on.

Next step will be to look at my warranty info. Dealership wasnt much help. Basically, we can look and will determine after we have racked up a bill if it is covered or not.

 

That's typical. If they don't have the tuck, they don't know what's wrong. If they don't know what's wrong, they don't know if it's covered under warranty.
I'm not sticking up for them, but if they said yea yea yea, it's covered. Bring her on in! I'd be even more skeptical. This case in point: IF the mud is the cause- yeah, you'd be on the hook for diagnosing. If the manufacturer won't reimburse the dealer, they collect from the customer, they just don't eat it.

 

Squeeze the lower hose on the radiator to check the thermostat is opening.

 

Did the cleaning fix the issue?

 

@Wesintex

Any update?