2005 CAT C9 400 HP Over Heating

[bobwyrick]

My Beaver 2005 CAT C9 400 HP engine over heats when climbing a hill.  The Transmission Temp gauge gets up to 230 and the Water Temp gauge reaches 240.  Once I start back down the hill both of the temperatures gradually return to normal.  If the hill is long enough the Check Engine light and the Engine Warning light comes on.  I have driven trucks for years and I have never heard of this.  I have spent $1500 on expert mechanics and the problem has not been solved.  Any ideas you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

[desertdeals69]

How clean is the radiator and charge air cooler?  Has it ever been steam cleaned.  I saw a friend of mine have his radiator steam cleaned at Freightliner 3 weeks ago and it corrected his overheating.

[Lenp]

What is the engine RPM when climbing those hills?  My ISL will get hot if I let the Allison do it's own shifting.  I ALWAYS manually downshift to maintain 1900-2000 RPM and it will heat up to around 210 and the fan kicks on and cools to 190.  If I let the Allison take control it will climb to 230-240 range.    Get the boost up and push cool air into the engine will help keep it cool.

Lenp

[wildebill308]

4 hours ago, BobWyrick said:

My Beaver 2005 CAT C9 400 HP engine over heats when climbing a hill.  The Transmission Temp gauge gets up to 230 and the Water Temp gauge reaches 240.  Once I start back down the hill both of the temperatures gradually return to normal.  If the hill is long enough the Check Engine light and the Engine Warning light comes on.  I have driven trucks for years and I have never heard of this.  I have spent $1500 on expert mechanics and the problem has not been solved.  Any ideas you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

 

Welcome to the forum Bob. Good advice so far. Let us know about the above questions.

Bill

[bobwyrick]

I keep my engine very clean.  Thanks for the advice.

[Falcon6251]

Bob

  Unfortunately Beaver was not known for using quality radiators. Take it to a radiator shop and have it flow tested. If it does not flow good you could possibly use a radiator flush in it and get it cleaned out inside. If that does not work then a new radiator may be necessary. There is a company in Alabama that builds replacements 100% aluminum, no plastic tanks. They cool great. Yes unfortunately I have first hand knowledge.  The recommendation to clean is always good. I take a pressure washer to mine every couple of months.

[wildebill308]

On 8/31/2017 at 5:20 PM, BobWyrick said:

I keep my engine very clean.  Thanks for the advice.

Yes but have you cleaned the CAC and radiator? Did you read the advice on keeping your rpm up?

Bill

[manholt]

All, very good advice and other than OP, we get one, sarcastic response!   Don't think he'll be back...the world of no response

[2stroker]

Your coach has a side radiator and a  Sourer-Danfoss hydraulic fan drive that sometimes fail in the full on but has been known to fail with no speed to it for cooling. Mine was getting to the point where I could hardly hear it and my coolant temp were going up and I have a new Brass and Steel radiator in a 2006 Country Coach with a C 9.  I had the wax valve installed and made a big difference in cooling,  now I run 197deg down to 170deg from a high of 210deg and boy can I hear the fan when it come on. 

This is what the wax valve looks like  http://sourcerv.com/conversion

2 stroker

[wolfe10]

2 stroker,

What is the temperature regulated by your engine thermostat (Caterpillar calls them regulators)?

What is the coolant temperature that triggers the wax valve to go to "full PSI"/full fan speed?

Ideally, there will be a 5 degrees F or so between the two.  Said another way you do not want to waste HP turning the fan faster than needed.  But once the thermostat is full open AND you see a few degree temperature rise above that, THEN you want fan speed to switch to high (or if variable speed, a highER) speed.