2002 Silverado 5.3L with 302,xxx miles.
Drove back from Sacramento to Los Angeles about a month ago and right when we hit the Grape Vine the temperature gauge began to climb close to 210 and 235 deg F.
When descending down the Valley, the gauge needle dropped to around 185 deg F. It was warm outside (85 deg ) on the way up.
Up until this past Monday, the needle pretty much has stayed between 185-210 deg F on warm to hot days.
Monday:
Outside Temp was 95 deg F-100 deg F in Southern CA.
Was driving around with my family from store to store with the AC on.
There was a few stores where only got off while my family stayed in the truck with the AC on.
I quickly went in and out of the stores to then jump back into the already running truck to do some more errands.
On our last stop, I jumped off the truck to run into the store for a 5 minute oil filter purchase.
I jumped into the truck and noticed a funny smell.
I then looked at the temp gauge and the needle was 2 lines from the red 260 on the gauge.
The AC was on but blowing warm air.
Checked coolant level and it looked fine
I quickly took off and was crossing my fingers that the movement of the truck would cool the truck down.
The gauge needle slowly began to move towards normal operating temp and it slowly settled at just below 210 deg F.
AC was turned back on and it began to cool like normal.
Checked coolant level and it was fine.
Drove truck for the next few days and have not noticed anything since.
Not sure where to start.
Water pump, coolant and thermostat were changed 2 years ago.
Replaced coolant again 1 year ago.
Not sure if these symptoms are indicating a problem with the fan clutch, if so, how do I test.
On my other cars (old Mercedes), I use the old simple newspaper on the fan test (when car has been driven and idling) to verify the fan clutch is OK
Can this method or test be used for Silverados?
What else could be causing these symptoms?
Any tips or recommendations are greatly appreciated
Please advise
Drove back from Sacramento to Los Angeles about a month ago and right when we hit the Grape Vine the temperature gauge began to climb close to 210 and 235 deg F.
When descending down the Valley, the gauge needle dropped to around 185 deg F. It was warm outside (85 deg ) on the way up.
Up until this past Monday, the needle pretty much has stayed between 185-210 deg F on warm to hot days.
Monday:
Outside Temp was 95 deg F-100 deg F in Southern CA.
Was driving around with my family from store to store with the AC on.
There was a few stores where only got off while my family stayed in the truck with the AC on.
I quickly went in and out of the stores to then jump back into the already running truck to do some more errands.
On our last stop, I jumped off the truck to run into the store for a 5 minute oil filter purchase.
I jumped into the truck and noticed a funny smell.
I then looked at the temp gauge and the needle was 2 lines from the red 260 on the gauge.
The AC was on but blowing warm air.
Checked coolant level and it looked fine
I quickly took off and was crossing my fingers that the movement of the truck would cool the truck down.
The gauge needle slowly began to move towards normal operating temp and it slowly settled at just below 210 deg F.
AC was turned back on and it began to cool like normal.
Checked coolant level and it was fine.
Drove truck for the next few days and have not noticed anything since.
Not sure where to start.
Water pump, coolant and thermostat were changed 2 years ago.
Replaced coolant again 1 year ago.
Not sure if these symptoms are indicating a problem with the fan clutch, if so, how do I test.
On my other cars (old Mercedes), I use the old simple newspaper on the fan test (when car has been driven and idling) to verify the fan clutch is OK
Can this method or test be used for Silverados?
What else could be causing these symptoms?
Any tips or recommendations are greatly appreciated
Please advise
