2014 Silverado 4.3 overheating

Juan Falcon · September 3, 2020

Have a 2014 4.3 Silverado with around 180k miles. About two weeks ago I noticed that whenever I’m driving (any speed) and press the gas pedal halfway or more for about 5 seconds I notice it starts to go from normal 210° to around 220° once I start to see it go up I let off and it goes back down. I could let it idle with the ac on and it’ll never go past 210 only when I step on it even with the ac off. The coolant is always at the top, the fans turn on when the ac is on , I haven’t seen any leaks, the radiator hose is hot after driving and radiator doesn’t have too much build up on it from the outside . I’ve replaced the thermostat twice in the past year and a half because both times they went out and marked 0° the whole time while driving causing my fans to always stay on (I just disconnected the battery for 10 min and after it would only mark around 100° but I only did it so the fans wouldn’t turn on, and It ended up being the housing) I also don’t think it’s the thermostat because otherwise it would go up and down like the other times And it only goes up when I know it will (when I floor it a little bit). Any idea what it could be?

CamGTP · September 4, 2020

Sounds like a normal working cooling system to me. Seeing anywhere from 210 to 225 degrees is pretty much normal on a the EcoTech3 engines, be it a 4.3 or V8 model.

It's much more noticeable in the summer time. The only thing that comes to mind that could be a problem is a poor flowing radiator but that seems unlikely. Your other option is buy a cooler thermostat if it bugs you that much.

Juan Falcon · September 4, 2020

20 hours ago, CamGTP said:

Sounds like a normal working cooling system to me. Seeing anywhere from 210 to 225 degrees is pretty much normal on a the EcoTech3 engines, be it a 4.3 or V8 model.

It's much more noticeable in the summer time. The only thing that comes to mind that could be a problem is a poor flowing radiator but that seems unlikely. Your other option is buy a cooler thermostat if it bugs you that much.

Thank you for the reply, and hmm Interesting, because in the 2 years I’ve had this truck and beat on It it’s never gone up past 210 which I thought was strange. Hopefully it is something normal like you said.