"Engine Over Heat" light actually works, uh. . . oops?

So I got the slide in 2007 9.5 foot Lance camper slid into the back end of the '94 idi turbo crewcab dually and took off for a camp site on the far side of the mountain.
Elevation about 4,000 foot. Ran the truck fairly hard for about an hour before the accent. Oops? She was already toasty before the accent. Temp gauge might have been on the "o" of "Normal". Got just about to the top and started losing power and pumping out the evil black smoke.
Got near the top water temp about 3/4 the way up to "ma" and just pulled off to the side, Shut off the engine, popped the hood, yep. Still looks like an engine. Got back in, fired it up and the light came on. Temp gauge still not pegged.
I ran the idle speed 1200-1500 RPM and let the water circulate about a long minute or so and the light went off. Shut it down and let it rest a short few minutes. Temp gauge still not *******. Been fighting a rough idle for awhile now so we decided it would be better to turn around and come home. Got down the road a bit, pulled up to a traffic light and had a loss of power, rough idle and the oil gauge starting fluctuating wildly.
Nursed it into a driveway, shut it down and let it rest for another 15 minutes.
Fired it off again and got down the road about 7 miles to a rest area and let it rest for 30 minutes while walking the dogs and taking in the scenery.
Drove it back home with no problems after that.

I was about to get a pyro kit from "Auto Meter" with the 2" gauge face to fit the pillar gauges post and wondering if there might be a better kit to use and the proper location of the exhaust bung for the probe.

I figure the screwy injectors messed up the engine temp, the engine temp effected the pump and I am thinking about adding an air dam under the truck from the bumper to the core support. Closing up the air flow that goes through the radiator to assist forcing it through the radiator and as long as I am playing, change the oil. I figure heating it up to that point didn't do any good.
Everything is under 3K miles. Engine, pump, turbo, trans, Alt, fan clutch. water pump....

Noiseydiesel said:

I was about to get a pyro kit from "Auto Meter" with the 2" gauge face to fit the pillar gauges post and wondering if there might be a better kit to use and the proper location of the exhaust bung for the probe.

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Wes says that he only uses Auto Meter gauges. the other one that I would recommend would be an Isspro. Either way, I don't think that you could go wrong. The general feeling is that the bung for the pyro should be within 8" from the head. Wes also says that he welds the bung into the crossover pipe right below where it connects to the manifold. This is on the driver's side of course.

When it was getting warm you should have suddenly heard a jet airliner under the hood. If you didn't, your brand new fan clutch is not working. Happens a lot. And when it does overheat, I found it best to let it sit and idle to cool it down. Seems to work better than just shutting it off.

FWIW I recently had my engine temp light come on but my mechanical temp gauge only read 225-230 which is warm but within spec, I think.

Howdy and thank you for the replys. No, I didn't hear the "Jet engine" and I was suspect of the fan clutch at that time. I have a water temp sensor for the gauge mounted on top of the water pump. I just mis-placed my round tuit on mounting the 4 gauge pod on the pillar post. I will get the Autometer gauge kit ordered form fleabay and get this all changes over and make another run over the mountain another day. Truck is not a daily driver so it can sit and wait for my round tuit.
I figure the 4 gauge pod will be oil pressure, water temp, trans temp and pyro temp.
that leaves off the boost gauge but I figure the seat of the pants is good enough for that.
Gas engines at 230 is at the high end of the spec. I suspect diesel doesn't like it quite that warm.
I figure the warm temp internally opened the injection pump, that dumped more fuel and just added to the heat problem. I am also looking at adding an air dam under the front bumper to the bottom of the core support. Forced cooling air induction.

Noiseydiesel said:

Gas engines at 230 is at the high end of the spec. I suspect diesel doesn't like it quite that warm.

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Not good for gas engines, but ours can run at 230 for quite a while without any issues. Am I going to test that theory? Not if I can help it. I'd rather see the temps around 220.

When you get above 230 you can start smelling oil burning off the engine. I would start worrying at 230, that is where the factory set the over temp switch that makes the gauge peg. I have gotten mine hotter than that with no damage, but it wasn't for very long, it was just long enough to find a place to pull over.

I think I mentioned before, not sure if it was this thread, but I have found keeping the revs up during a pull is important. I have everything new in my cooling system, and have locked my fan also. But the temps will still start climbing pulling a mountain unless I downshift and get the fan and the waterpump spinning faster.

IDIBRONCO said:

Not good for gas engines, but ours can run at 230 for quite a while without any issues. Am I going to test that theory? Not if I can help it. I'd rather see the temps around 220.

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Good to know. I'm fairly new to the IDI and when towing up a hill I see temps go up to 210 and I start to worry. Good to know I could see 230 for a bit and not worry to much.

If I remember correctly, IDI's work more or less like:

190-210: perfect, keep pushing
220: you're fine, but watch it and consider turning AC off if temps continue to rise
230: ease up, she's at the red line, but if it's stable you're ok. Watch CLOSELY.
240: pull over or lose your head gaskets
250: truck decides for you that it wants to pull over now

Golden Helmet said:

If I remember correctly, IDI's work more or less like:

190-210: perfect, keep pushing
220: you're fine, but watch it and consider turning AC off if temps continue to rise
230: ease up, she's at the red line, but if it's stable you're ok. Watch CLOSELY.
240: pull over or lose your head gaskets
250: truck decides for you that it wants to pull over now

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Sounds about right.

space ghost said:

Good to know. I'm fairly new to the IDI and when towing up a hill I see temps go up to 210 and I start to worry. Good to know I could see 230 for a bit and not worry to much.

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It does take some getting used to. I've never seen mine at 220, but I don't pull very heavy loads most of the time. It took a long time, back in the early 90's, to get used to the idea that GM cars were designed to run at higher temperatures. I was used to 190-195.

Golden Helmet said:

190-210: perfect, keep pushing

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In fact, our engines don't start to run efficiently until about 190 or so. At lower temperatures, the fuel doesn't burn as well so the fuel mileage suffers.

Im no pro, but i have been around diesels . gas engines heat up when idling, diesels cool down, (when hot) . first start , mine will idle hi , after hitting the throttle once , with key on. and at about 122f , it will kick down.
when i get where im going, i let my truck idle for 1 -3 minutes, it lets the coolant move and cool things and my turbo cools down,,,
i watch my EGTs get about 260-280 ish then shut it off, never before.. my .02
hope this is of some help...

nhwrench01 said:

Im no pro, but i have been around diesels . gas engines heat up when idling, diesels cool down, (when hot) . first start , mine will idle hi , after hitting the throttle once , with key on. and at about 122f , it will kick down.
when i get where im going, i let my truck idle for 1 -3 minutes, it lets the coolant move and cool things and my turbo cools down,,,
i watch my EGTs get about 260-280 ish then shut it off, never before.. my .02
hope this is of some help...

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This is what our engines were designed to do. It's ALWAYS a good idea to let your engine idle long enough for the EGTs to come down like this. Shutting it down while hot will eventually cook your turbo bearings and seals.

IDIBRONCO said:

This is what our engines were designed to do. It's ALWAYS a good idea to let your engine idle long enough for the EGTs to come down like this. Shutting it down while hot will eventually cook your turbo bearings and seals.

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Hence why a lot of newer trucks and cars with turbos people install turbotimers. After you remove the key, lock the car, and walk away it runs to maintain oil whil the turbo is spinning down.

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