COOLING UPGRADES ??

[Scooby]

What are the cooling upgrades available for my 1996 6.5 ?? WHat is involved in changing it with the '97 cooling upgrades I have read about ?? Where is the best place for these parts ??

[john8662]

97 Cooling Mods..

You may or may not have them already installed. Some 96 model trucks came with what we call the "97 cooling mods." These mods just involved changing the thermostat crossover to a dual thermostat setup and a higher flow waterpump marked "HO" on it that flows 130GPM compared to the 85 stock.

A complete kit to do the work is available from some of the vendors, like Kennedy Diesel:

http://www.kennedydiesel.com/categoryresults3.cfm?Category=1&SubCategory=65&SubCategory2=9

Then the install of the upgrade, its A LOT of work, but if your mechanically inclined you can definitly accomplish this, especially on a 96 (its easier on a 96 than it is on the 92-95 6.5's). This is due mainly do the placement of the accesories on the engine was changed in 96 and stayed that way till the end production of the 6.5.

You may also as a great reference consider A diesel page feature articles book from the past, which can be ordered.

[Barry Nave]

By doing the cooling Mod your more than 1/2 way to go ahead and install the DSG Gear.
You won't be sorry that you went ahead and did the whole PKG.

[Scooby]

WHat is the DSG gear ?? Is it a replacement for the timing chain?? I dont know if I will do the cooling mod yet. I will be towing in FLorida, but only my boat and 4 wheelers. I just bought the truck a few weeks ago, and the slush fund is gone !!! Now the holidays.... thank God for overtime !!! I probably wont have time for recreation for a while !!! Viscious circle, isnt it !!

[Marty Lau]

Scooby;
If you do a search for the cooling upgrades you will come up with a number of threads about them.
One thing I have noticed is folks that do the waterpump change find that that is not enough and end up getting either a Kennedy Fan clutch or a Hayden Fan clutch from Heath Diesel.

What I am going to do is the reverse order. I got the Hayden fan clutch and going to see how that works and if needed then do the rest of the upgrades. Per Bill Heath unless we are towing large loads most trucks do good with the fan clutch. Bill told me of his '94 1500 6.5 with 3.08 gears and he pulled the 10,000+lbs trailer used at the pull off up the grade and temp never got over 210, stock fan and water pump only had Hayden fan clutch. He also has it chipped and mist injecton.

[Johnny B.]

I noticed a couple of dual thermostat cross over manifolds on Ebay yesterday.

[GMCfourX4]

Do yourself a favor and start with the simple things. One of the biggest reasons (IMHO) for overheating on these trucks is b/c of too much "stuff" in the radiator. I had no overheating problems at all before I started my intercooler install, and my radiator looked clean. In the process of installing the intercooler, I rinsed out the radiator with a garden hose and some Simple Green (spraying from the engine side out towards the front of the truck) and I was apalled at how much crap I washed out. The A/C condenser and oil cooler were the same story. I also loosned up the oil cooler to get out all of the stuff that gets caught behind it. HowieE has some good info on this on his website. Also, if you can, check the inside of your radiator for sludge (for lack of a better word). Mine was perfectly clean when I flushed my cooling system, but my truck started with Dex-Cool, which is supposed to reduce/eliminate cooling system buildup. I haven't towed with the electric fans I installed, but I can't imagine they pull as much air as a clutch fan, and they only come on when I'm stopped... MikeC has the same fan setup as I do, and I believe he's towed with it w/out issues. I guess my point is to start with a cooling system flush/fill (relatively cheap) and cleaning out the radiator, condenser, oil cooler, etc.... then see if you have any problems.

-Chris

[rjschoolcraft]

GMCfourX4:

Those are all good points... However, I did all of the items that you mentioned and still cooked! I found that towing anywhere east of the Mississippi was OK, things stayed under control in the cooling department. West of the Mississippi (actually, at the beginning of the Great Plains), overheating was a constant problem. I've now fixed that!