It’s About to Get Hot! ‑ Is Your Truck Ready?
During the summer months your truck is put to the test. The hotter ambient temperatures affect all of your systems, and push them to their limits. Here are some examples of just how the heat affects your truck. • Coolant – The coolant takes heat not only from the engine, but in many cases items such as fuel, power steering, oil, EGR, & transmission coolers as well. All of these components are experiencing higher temperatures, and put extra heat load on the coolant. • Radiator – The radiators primary role is to allow the ambient air passing over it to disperse heat from the coolant. This becomes harder during hot ambient temperatures due to several factors. In front of the radiator is a Charge-Air Cooler, and A/C Condenser. These systems are working harder in the summer and producing more heat. The already hot ambient air passes over these items first becoming hotter, then passes over the radiator. These systems, internal coolant flow, build up, as well as the airflow have a direct effect on the radiators performance. • A/C Condenser – A/C condenser’s job is to let ambient air flow across it and dissipate heat from the compressed refrigerant. • Charge-Air Cooler – The air is already hotter and thinner during the summer, which makes the turbo work harder and creates additional heat in the Charge-Air Cooler. The cooler takes the ambient air across it and attempts to reduce the compressed air from the turbo entering into your engine. • Engine Block – All of the engine components are hotter than normal due to heat buildup from the pulleys and alternator, to the oil and coolant running through the engine. Most of the engines cooling
comes from the coolant. However approximately 7% of the engine cooling comes from air flow under the hood, which also increases during the summer. • Fuel – The fuel system receives heat during the compression process and while traveling through the engine components. It then returns to the fuel tanks in an attempt to cool. However, the added engine temperatures, as well as the hotter ambient air make it harder to cool. Between the hotter fuel, and hotter air the engine has a harder time producing power. All of these items can stack up and put your truck on the side of the road. It is a good idea to have these systems checked out before they are stressed to the max during the summer heat. Here are some suggestions to combat the heat. • Have your truck run on a dyno. A dyno is like a stress test for your engine. It not only verifies engine performance, but it puts all of the previously mentioned system under load and verifies they can handle it as well. • Have an A/C performance test run on your truck to verify the integrity of your A/C system. • Inspect and test your coolant, not only the freeze point, but the coolant additives, as well as a pressure test to check for leaks. • Hoses and Belts– Inspect coolant, Charge-Air, power steering, fuel, transmission, and A/C hoses for signs of leaks, wear, loose clamps and fittings. Also check belts, pulleys, and tensioners for condition and proper operation. • Air flow – Verify that your radiator, Charge Air, and Condenser package have adequate air flow. They should not be plugged or have bent fins. Also inspect the fan shroud and fan blades. If they have cracks or missing pieces they should be replaced.
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