Normal Operating Temp Characteristics?

[CapitalTruck]

So, bought new truck last night (4.8 V8). Driving home today in heavy traffic. Temp gauge goes well beyond 210. Doesn't quite hit 235, but it was still concerning. Then it would go down. Then back up. It seems like the fans were waiting too long to kick on. Is the temperature exceeding 210 normal for these? My 04 1500 had belt driven fan. That temperature gauge stayed at 190 like a rock. I couldn't believe that I was seeing this thing go past 210. Any ideas (basically, does yours do this?)

[DaveH71]

No, shouldn't be going over 210. I've had my 6.2 for almost 3 years now and it has never gone over 210. Take it back to the dealer and tell them to fix the fans.

[jdelrizzle]

Are we talking about the 2004?

[ZachM1]

My 2007 5.3 sits steady at 210. Never goes over.

[CapitalTruck]

No, talking about my new 2013. It almost seems like the fans don't come on until a little past 210. When the fans kick on it comes right back down to 210. Then it creeps back up (and comes back down).

[jdelrizzle]

Ah! I just saw your other post 2013 4.8, well here it goes, this is all from my personal experience with my very own 2011 4.8, now I have a 2009 5.3.

 

I noticed your new truck doesn't have a hitch, well it probably didn't come with a trans cooler either, after only owning my 4.8 for a few days I noticed the exacted same thing on my truck, took it to two different dealers and well they found nothing wrong with it. My current truck doesn't do that the fans kick on way earlier, it does have a trans cooler (external one), the point I'm getting at, is that I believe the load of the tranny is making the coolant temp rise, I remember the tranny gage in the dic read like 200 degrees f going through stop in go traffic in the summer and winter, and that's when the coolant temp would climb past 210. After owning the 4.8 with no auxiliary oil coolers and now having the 5.3 with auxiliary tranny cooler I noticed the tranny runs cooler won't go over 175 f Sorry for writing you a book but as a former 4.8 owner nnbs, I know exactly what your talking about your truck is fine, don't believe me go test drive another 4.8 through stop and go traffic and then let it idle, see how long it takes for the fans to kick on without the ac on. I also believe that on the nnbs the fans on the 5.3 and 4.8 are programmed to kick on at different temps.

 

It annoyed the heck out of but after much research I came to the conclusion that it was perfectly normal

[CapitalTruck]

Why thank you sir! You have put my mind at ease. I figured this was something to do with me coming from a belt driven fan in my 04 to this new fancy overly complex dual speed dual fan setup. Thanks man.

[jdelrizzle]

Yep, I came on the forums as well for some guidance, and a bunch of dudes chimed in talking about how they could idle their 5.3 with a towing package all day with the ac on, and the needle will never go past 210, well it's been mentioned here on this forum that the temp gage is nothing more than a dumby gage, it's not very accurate.

Take it to the the dealer I guarantee they'll find nothing wrong with it because there is nothing wrong with it…

[beetle]

2012 with 4.8 and trailer package, mine will go to almost 3/4 on the temp gauge stop and go / hot days, ect. before the fans kick in. Nothing to worry about, it's normal.

[jdelrizzle]

See the way I know that the fans kick on more often on my 5.3 then they did on my 4.8 is not by the coolant temp gage, but rather the tranny temp gage on the dic. 4.8 I would see the temp rise up to 200 before the fans would kick on, on the 5.3 they'll kick on at about 165/175.

[NEFisher11]

My 2011 with the 4.8l and the tow package dose the same thing nice to see it is "normal" i guess.

[CapitalTruck]

Good deal. I don't have the towing package, but Hayden cooler has been ordered from Amazon. On my last truck I installed the factory tranny cooler. That was a huge pain in the ass. The shop manual says that to snake the lines on this one you have to take off the bumper and lower a transmission cross brace. Negative...I'll just go aftermarket and get a bigger cooler to boot.

[PH-Wolf]

My 2011 with the 4.3L V6 does the same thing, my temp gauge rides on 210 when it's up to temp normally. In hot weather if I'm idleing for a while (like stuck in traffic) my temp gauge will creep up past 210. Usually it will get nearly half way to the next line past 210 on the gauge and the fans will kick on. My trucks been that way since new and I now have over 58,100 miles, gm runs theses engines hotter to meet emissions. The highest temp I seen the trans is 197 degrees, I have the base W/T with no tow package so I have the trans cooler integrated in the radiator.

I've been thinking on wiring the fans to a manual override switch to turn them on at will, since the fans are computer controlled. Bad thing about that is I'm thinking that will cause issues with the ECM but I'm not 100% sure. The other thing I was thinking was adding a pusher fan on the front of the rad(looks to be enough room) that I can turn on during long stopped traffic.

Also going to be adding a sep. trans cooler, I do 90-95% hi-way/country road driving so I see very little stop and go an my trans runs cool. Still would like to lighten the load on the rad a bit.

[jdelrizzle]

You could get a tuner that will allow the fans to be programmed to kick on at a cooler temp, I've read about members on this forum installing an after market trans cooler and a fan with a switch.

 

must be the 4.3 and 4.8 that are programmed that way as far as the fans go, I was thinking maybe its to save fuel, although we've ruled this out as being something that is within the norm, I didn't like it one bit when I had the 4.8.

[j-ten-ner]

So, bought new truck last night (4.8 V8). Driving home today in heavy traffic. Temp gauge goes well beyond 210. Doesn't quite hit 235, but it was still concerning. Then it would go down. Then back up. It seems like the fans were waiting too long to kick on. Is the temperature exceeding 210 normal for these? My 04 1500 had belt driven fan. That temperature gauge stayed at 190 like a rock. I couldn't believe that I was seeing this thing go past 210. Any ideas (basically, does yours do this?)

Did you check all the hose clamps? Any leaks? Coolant reservoir full?

 

Wouldn't be the first car coming of the line leaking a little coolant due to a loose connection.

 

But anyway, a little higher temp in stop and go traffic is normal.

 

 

so long

j-ten-ner