recently, my dodge p/u has started running hot (not to the red line). this happens when i have to accelerate to go up hills. the temp gauge shows the truck cools down, though. under normal driving conditions, the temp stays right in the middle of the gauge; only rises on hills (no pun intended). what am i looking at?
You don’t mention the year of your truck, but it probably has a fan clutch. If this fan clutch isn’t functioning, it won’t speed the fan up fast enough to remove the heat from the radiator when a load is imposed on the engine.
To check the fan clutch, when the engine is good and hot, open the hood and try spinning the radiator fan by hand. If it spins one revolution or more, the fan clutch is bad.
Tester
…with the engine off, of course.
thanks for the info. will try what you suggest. based on what the truck does, your idea seems to be right on target
bingo on the clutch (dodge ram 2003)