Overheating...

[domingjm]

Well, I started this thread, and for all my initial bitching and moaning about coolant temp, here's a follow up.
Three weeks on the road and over 1000 miles around through Arizona and back home to Utah, the diesel never got too hot. Always ran about 60 to 65 mph, ambient as high as 80... some hellish headwinds and and few pretty good grades... the highest temp observed on the off-road gauge was 222. Mostly 210 to 220.
If this continues, I'm good and I'm happy to just drive it!

Just came across this thread, looking in to preemptively mitigate overheating issues in my diesel Gladiator. Have you mostly gotten a handle on the overheating while towing? Any words of wisdom you can pass along? Much appreciated.

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[domingjm]

My 2 cents…

Not all, but many here seem to be new to the diesel side. Comparing your experiences with a gas Wrangler or your experiences with a gas RV to the diesel are appreciated, but not really apples to apples.

I am “new” to the Wrangler diesel, but not to the whole diesel experience. I have owned/driven a 42’ Class A Rv with an 8.3L Cumins Turbo Diesel pusher for 10 years. 34,000 lbs going down the road. The past 7 years I have been full timing, criss-crossing the US, towing a Jeep.

The first thing to know, the more fuel you dump into a gas engine, the cooler it runs. That is why you can stand on the gas pedal and climb that mountain grade at 70mph.

Second, the more fuel you dump into a diesel engine, the hotter it runs. Then the boost increases the temp even more. That is why the tractor-trailers all line up and go slow up the mountain grades. Lower gears, optimum rpm’s, controlled boost, controlled temp. Climb!

I know the second from real world experience. My Rv engine is fully mechanical. No fancy electronic controls, no cutoffs. I drive the hills by boost gauge, tachometer, exhaust gas temps and throttle. There is a fine line between maintaining and overheating. As the hill increases, the gears go lower to maintain. I know my engine’s sweet spot. Learned from experience. Without a boost gauge and an exhaust gas gauge, it’s impossible to really tell what’s going on. Without gauges, I would overheat on every trip.

With the diesel Wrangler, you get all the newest electronic controls to keep it from overheating. Limp mode is one of them. Too hot and it shuts you down until the temp comes down. Off-road page gauges help you monitor, but don’t give you all the information you need.
Add a boost and a piro gauge and let’s really see what is really going on.

You can’t drive it like you stole it. It’s a diesel. You have to have some self control and use a little common sense. Also, Wranglers weren’t necessarily built for speed. Really, a brick on wheels?

I haven‘t towed yet, but will be soon.
I have driven fast uphill without issue.
Have not had any temp issues yet.

Mike

On an ecodiesel engine, what RPMs would you target while towing up a steep grade? I haven't had overheating issues, per say (oil temp is normally in the 220s), but I haven't towed the 2,000 lb trailer yet either. Any other advice for mitigating hot oil in hot weather and under demanding work loads?

 

[Come2elmo]

On an ecodiesel engine, what RPMs would you target while towing up a steep grade? I haven't had overheating issues, per say (oil temp is normally in the 220s), but I haven't towed the 2,000 lb trailer yet either. Any other advice for mitigating hot oil in hot weather and under demanding work loads?

several on the diesel ram forums say to keep it around 3k. That helps keep the EGT in a safe range. You are likely going to get passed but you won’t derate. but I am a flat lander fwiw.

 

[RubiBlueJLU]

On an ecodiesel engine, what RPMs would you target while towing up a steep grade? I haven't had overheating issues, per say (oil temp is normally in the 220s), but I haven't towed the 2,000 lb trailer yet either. Any other advice for mitigating hot oil in hot weather and under demanding work loads?

No idea on the EcoDiesel. As "come2elmo" said, several forums say 3000rpm. Sounds reasonable.
My point is you can't just keep putting your foot down on the diesel throttle and not expect issues.
Throttle, boost, EGT, water temp, oil temp, tranny temp all come into play.

There is a discussion on heat/towing/derating in this thread. Lots of info there, too.

https://www.jlwranglerforums.com/forum/threads/towing-with-3-0-diesel.70886/

 

[ChuckQue]

several on the diesel ram forums say to keep it around 3k. That helps keep the EGT in a safe range. You are likely going to get passed but you won’t derate. but I am a flat lander fwiw.

I don’t understand what everyone’s obsession is with roaring up mountain passes at 80mph while towing. Maybe it’s my time spent as a commercial driver years ago but I know when we tow our 35’ TT with our F-350 I take it easy up grades, especially when it’s hot out. I have zero desire for something to take a shit on me halfway up the grapevine pass in the dead of summer. If I’m doing 60mph up the grade I’m happy, and I just hang out with the big rigs until out of the climb.

 

[domingjm]

I don’t understand what everyone’s obsession is with roaring up mountain passes at 80mph while towing. Maybe it’s my time spent as a commercial driver years ago but I know when we tow our 35’ TT with our F-350 I take it easy up grades, especially when it’s hot out. I have zero desire for something to take a shit on me halfway up the grapevine pass in the dead of summer. If I’m doing 60mph up the grade I’m happy, and I just hang out with the big rigs until out of the climb.

Sounds totally reasonable to me too.

 

[Tread4Lo]

I agree totally on the 80mph up passes. This is where everyone is bitching about he ecodiesel, or the YT'ers anyways. I assume those YT'ers are not going to keep any vehicle over the long haul (3 years if they are lucky), so if they burn it up it's not going to be their problem in the long run.

Most sane people drive their vehicle normally not trying to tear shit up.

 

[Remorseless]

I don’t understand what everyone’s obsession is with roaring up mountain passes at 80mph while towing. Maybe it’s my time spent as a commercial driver years ago but I know when we tow our 35’ TT with our F-350 I take it easy up grades, especially when it’s hot out. I have zero desire for something to take a shit on me halfway up the grapevine pass in the dead of summer. If I’m doing 60mph up the grade I’m happy, and I just hang out with the big rigs until out of the climb.

I mean, with the way people drive nowadays I feel like they get pissy if they can't do 85 through a school zone.

 

[AZ-Chris]

I don't think Casey 250 was driving unreasonably fast when his engine derated. The first time he wasn't even towing.

The folks that have reported having an engine derate have all been at or below posted speed limits. However, speed limits in the Western/Rocky Mountain regions are often 75 mph or greater, and towing at those speeds on mountain grades IS unreasonable.

 

[grimmjeeper]

I suspect that there are several triggers for a derate. I can think of 4 temperatures off hand. Coolant, oil, exhaust, and transmission would all make sense. And there are several exhaust temp sensors and all probably have upper limits. There are probably others as well.

Without a full datalog, it would be difficult for any of is to positively state what caused any particular derate.

 

[garykk]

Anyone that has the Valkyrie hood vents for a while notice any difference in engine temps? Been thinking of ordering a set.

 

[Old Dogger]

Anyone that has the Valkyrie hood vents for a while notice any difference in engine temps? Been thinking of ordering a set.

Hood vents are designed to help reduce the heat under the hood. This should be helpful to hose, belt, wiring harness and battery life.
But most have reported, that it had little to no effect on engine cooling system temps.

 

[garykk]

Hood vents are designed to help reduce the heat under the hood. This should be helpful to hose, belt, wiring harness and battery life.
But most have reported, that it had little to no effect on engine cooling system temps.

Interesting, I would think with purging heat from under the hood it would aid in helping drop engine temps via more air flow.

 

[Old Dogger]

Interesting, I would think with purging heat from under the hood it would aid in helping drop engine temps via more air flow.

Air flow CFM through the radiator, is the key to running cooler engine temps. Don’t block air flow with, winch, bar and lights. Keep your air dam on. Keep the bugs washed out of your trans cooler, A/C Condenser and radiator. Trim about 3” off of one’s front inner fenders, from the front back to the shock area. This creates a low pressure zone, and helps the engine cooling fan to move air through the radiator, more efficiently. I live in hot as hell Arizona, so I have tried it all.

 

[garykk]

Good info thanks

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