Sooo, she looks locked up to me.

[Twisted Steel Performance]

The electric solenoid will cure the leaking for good.... I won't use water again without one...

 

[JayTheCPA]

ECTs got a couple notches over 210 A couple times only for a short time.

That is hot to a GM block. Apparently not so much to the Optimizer as I had read the military lets theirs go out to 240.

 

[Will L.]

No, thats hot anyways. The military had same spec on all these engines. Why do you think they do so many take outs at low mileage. Some brass somewhere decided to not trust the engine to 100,000 like its amount of hours causing web mains, heads, etc to crack.
GEP is following the bs line from GM that high temps are ok.

 

[THEFERMANATOR]

240 aint nothin to a duramax, then again I wasnt afraid to run my 6.5 up around 210-220. Also keep in mind I believe this is the same truck he was talking avout running cold. I know the new replacement senders which I believe he says he has, will read cold till about 180-185, then they start reading close to correct, and I found around 200-205 they rapidly climb way up and read to hot. So who knows how hot he actually got it.

 

[Hink]

The electric solenoid will cure the leaking for good.... I won't use water again without one...

Which solenoid did you use?

That is hot to a GM block. Apparently not so much to the Optimizer as I had read the military lets theirs go out to 240.

GEP is following the bs line from GM that high temps are ok.

While I totally agree with the 210 limit on these engines, even the Optimizer, I can't believe that our engines are so delicate as to be destroyed if ever going over this point. Growing up you'd hear of engines full-on overheating all the time and you just pull off the road till it cooled down, put some water in it and kept on and those engines ran for thousands of miles. Yes, we get more miles out of newer engines, but overheating wasn't an instant engine killer. If the 6.5 is such a princess as to not be able to handle even a moment above 210, then we all need to jump on with Ferm and go with a nation wide Duramax conversion. I just can't believe it. It seems @WarWagon would be with me on this since he's our go-to guy for heating up 6.5s : )>
Should we keep it at or below 210? Absolutely. Should we run em full time at 220 and above? No way man. But I can't believe hitting 220-230 for a minute or two will just destroy these engines. Course I say that and watch me burn her up. : )>

BTW, I'm not jumping on your guys' asses at all, I know you have way more experience than I do and I stay the ever so humble newbie. This is just a general thought process. And don't get me wrong, I do everything I can to keep it below the 210 point.

240 aint nothin to a duramax, then again I wasnt afraid to run my 6.5 up around 210-220. Also keep in mind I believe this is the same truck he was talking avout running cold. I know the new replacement senders which I believe he says he has, will read cold till about 180-185, then they start reading close to correct, and I found around 200-205 they rapidly climb way up and read to hot. So who knows how hot he actually got it.

I was thinking about you saying this the whole time and tried to factor it in a bit.

And BTW, I was thinking, mounting the tank for the water system would work if you never parked on a hill. A shut off valve seems like a must in this case until they get completely proven injectors.

Well, I'll do an oil change today and drive her around some and report back here if anything else happens. Also, I'll take my usual sample for analysis since this is the oil I towed on and went through this whole mess.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

I used DevilsOwn stuff...

 

[Will L.]

A minute or two at 220 isnt a killer. Its a collective. The more heat and the longer its there, the quicker the rings and everything fail. My hummer was at 220 yesterday for about 4-5 minutes. nature of the beast in Vegas. But if i could keep it down below 210 all the tome it would last longer.

I know that running my engine at the temps, I get a shorter life. Its a trade off.

 

[Hink]

A minute or two at 220 isnt a killer. Its a collective. The more heat and the longer its there, the quicker the rings and everything fail. My hummer was at 220 yesterday for about 4-5 minutes. nature of the beast in Vegas. But if i could keep it down below 210 all the tome it would last longer.

I know that running my engine at the temps, I get a shorter life. Its a trade off.

Gotcha. Ok, good to know I'm on the right track. And also why I'm moving ahead with venting the rig. With not living in vegas, there's no reason to expect to keep the temps in check, even while towing. Unless I tow to Vegas.

I'm sure you've done plenty of venting, Will?

 

[Will L.]

Oh, ive VENTED. Almost vented my way to a jail cell once or twice haha.

Hummers/ hmmwv have twice the airflow over the engine area, but destroy engines in less than 50k miles all the time.

Really, It might help some, but it is not the route I would suggest. A little of the heat can make its way out the surface area, but more cooling is where its at.
There is a friend of mine that has a 4 door 1 ton that couldn't get his 6.5 good enough to tow his monster boat from overheating. Balanced flow water pump, snow wmi kit, hx40, 4" exhaust, nv4500.

We finally put 2 radiators with electric fans that he got from a junkyard underneath his bed. The truck runs 195 all day long now. He doesnt take it offroad/ lowered 2wd-so nothing can get damaged.

 

[Big T]

Which solenoid did you use?





While I totally agree with the 210 limit on these engines, even the Optimizer, I can't believe that our engines are so delicate as to be destroyed if ever going over this point. Growing up you'd hear of engines full-on overheating all the time and you just pull off the road till it cooled down, put some water in it and kept on and those engines ran for thousands of miles. Yes, we get more miles out of newer engines, but overheating wasn't an instant engine killer. If the 6.5 is such a princess as to not be able to handle even a moment above 210, then we all need to jump on with Ferm and go with a nation wide Duramax conversion. I just can't believe it. It seems @WarWagon would be with me on this since he's our go-to guy for heating up 6.5s : )>
Should we keep it at or below 210? Absolutely. Should we run em full time at 220 and above? No way man. But I can't believe hitting 220-230 for a minute or two will just destroy these engines. Course I say that and watch me burn her up. : )>

BTW, I'm not jumping on your guys' asses at all, I know you have way more experience than I do and I stay the ever so humble newbie. This is just a general thought process. And don't get me wrong, I do everything I can to keep it below the 210 point.


I was thinking about you saying this the whole time and tried to factor it in a bit.

And BTW, I was thinking, mounting the tank for the water system would work if you never parked on a hill. A shut off valve seems like a must in this case until they get completely proven injectors.

Well, I'll do an oil change today and drive her around some and report back here if anything else happens. Also, I'll take my usual sample for analysis since this is the oil I towed on and went through this whole mess.

I got mine to 220 last weekend, then I pulled over and left it running to cool off. They cool off faster with airflow, but I was pulling a serious load up a serious mountain grade in 102 F ambient temps. Engine is fine. Probably won't be the last time that happens.

 

[Hink]

more cooling is where its at.
There is a friend of mine that has a 4 door 1 ton that couldn't get his 6.5 good enough to tow his monster boat from overheating. Balanced flow water pump, snow wmi kit, hx40, 4" exhaust, nv4500.

We finally put 2 radiators with electric fans that he got from a junkyard underneath his bed. The truck runs 195 all day long now. He doesnt take it offroad/ lowered 2wd-so nothing can get damaged.

That's good to know. Not a good thing, just good to know.
I was getting a good look at my radiator today, the good, copper core one one? It has PLENTY of room more radiator there. I'm really tempted to contact the company and see if they have a heavy duty one with more rows or something.
What do you think of Leroys Mishimoto radiator?

 

[Will L.]

On the hummer forum, a guy mounted a secondary radiator on his roof and moved the oil cooler out of the stack to underneath. His comment today running it in 107 temps was he couldnt get the ect over 185- he was lugging he motor.

When im at 107 ambient temps, i can not do 65 mph. If i do 45 mph i slowly climb the ect - like 20-25 minutes and its time to pull over.

6.5s in equipment never overheat in 115 temps, but have radiators the size of a Peterbilt. The generators i've worked on them in have a remote horizontal radiator with electric motor fan, and the engine bay is almost completely closed off to muffle the sound. They were all replaced by the multiquip isuzu (duramax) quite generators for sound. The 6.5 ones lasted for ever and are very fuel efficient.

 

[JayTheCPA]

What do you think of Leroys Mishimoto radiator?

On the flats (up to 2% short-ish grades) it is holding temps fairly steady with the RV in tow at 55 mph. No A/C for that trip.

Will put it to more of a test this Fall when I am planning to take the RV to some 5 - 6% grade areas.

 

[Twisted Steel Performance]

Griffin radiators, they can & will build you anything you want.. their is room for more core or one that flows it through twice.. they make some nice products..

 

[Hink]

On the hummer forum, a guy mounted a secondary radiator on his roof and moved the oil cooler out of the stack to underneath. His comment today running it in 107 temps was he couldnt get the ect over 185- he was lugging he motor.

Geeze Will, that's cool as hell (forgive the ironic pun) are you going to try that? I won't do the roof thing but I like the idea of a secondary radiator somehow or sctrailriders' Griffin suggestion below and I've never liked the whole idea of a "stack". Not that having the oil cooler there will cause havoc by itself, but it'll add to it.

On the flats (up to 2% short-ish grades) it is holding temps fairly steady with the RV in tow at 55 mph. No A/C for that trip.

Will put it to more of a test this Fall when I am planning to take the RV to some 5 - 6% grade areas.

How did that compare to before?

Griffin radiators, they can & will build you anything you want.. their is room for more core or one that flows it through twice.. they make some nice products..

Excellent, that's good to know. I would consider that

 

[Will L.]

Yes, I will be putting one up top. I built my roof to have it up there and keep it protected, along with some other goodies.

 

[Hink]

So, I changed the oil and filter. When it drained, I did see a bunch of water come out. Maybe a 1/4 cup, maybe 1/8, no way to tell but not much, which is too much.
I drove the five minutes to town to get more oil and such from NAPA and she started slow (I'll get to that) but ran great. When I came out of NAPA, I looked underneath to do my normal check for any leaks that I do after any work.
What the heck is that dripping? I slide underneath to check what's coming from the rear of the engine. Water, ok. Clear water. Again he says hmmmm...

The night before I had gotten everything together and running, fell asleep exhausted from dealing with all this and at 3am, my eyes went doink! Wide open. I was hearing Wills booming, godly voice saying "Wmi system failure more likely you silly Jack-ass!" And he looked just like Morgan Freeman wearing a Popeye the sailor man onesy and holding a giant Ar-15 which was strangely comforting and disturbing all at the same time.
I had bolted everything back up the way it was which meant that the WMI was probably leaking into the engine at that very moment and would put me right back where I was before with a locked engine. Maybe that jack-ass part was my own voice.
I got up, put some pants on and went out into the dark with nothing to protect me but a 15mm genuine Gear Wrench made in Taiwan to take the WMI injector that we think caused all of this out of the intake.

Thinking of all this (while trying to block the Will looking like Morgan Freeman part), I climbed back up to the engine bay and looked at the WMI injector. Gee, I don't know... you think it might be leaking?


I went over to the hardware store for a plug until I can get the Devils Own solenoid that sctrailrider suggested.

Oh yeah, the slow start thing...

One lesson that I am qualified to teach others is this... While troubleshooting and fixing one problem, you can and will be thoroughly confused by something else, completely unrelated that will go wrong at the same time.
After getting everything running, when I heard the slow start, I thought of WarWagons warning (say that 3 times fast) about a bent rod. Having never heard an engine run with a bent rod, would it slow start, I wondered? Fear set in.
But I also remembered that I had the charger on it for the last three days or so and they never really got up to full charge. Another hmmm... Sure enough, after a few starts, it wouldn't turn over any more. While a buddy was giving me a jump, he says "hey, this battery terminal is smoking!".
The day is positively chock full of hmmm...
I got her started, went up to the shop to swap out smoky with a good battery and she starts fine now. It still looks like it's not completely up to snuff so I'll probly get a pair of good yellow tops to solve that problem.

 

[Paveltolz]

Try a set of PT Wiring Solutions Battery Cables to help your batteries do their job. My Red Tops were good before I put in the upgraded cables but, the motor spins ever so much quicker with the upgrade.

 

[Hink]

Try a set of PT Wiring Solutions Battery Cables to help your batteries do their job. My Red Tops were good before I put in the upgraded cables but, the motor spins ever so much quicker with the upgrade.

That's a really good idea that I just keep forgetting about. Being an electrician, I'll probably make my own but if I can't make it happen, I'll do those.

 

[NVW]

So, I changed the oil and filter. When it drained, I did see a bunch of water come out. Maybe a 1/4 cup, maybe 1/8, no way to tell but not much, which is too much.
I drove the five minutes to town to get more oil and such from NAPA and she started slow (I'll get to that) but ran great. When I came out of NAPA, I looked underneath to do my normal check for any leaks that I do after any work.
What the heck is that dripping? I slide underneath to check what's coming from the rear of the engine. Water, ok. Clear water. Again he says hmmmm...

The night before I had gotten everything together and running, fell asleep exhausted from dealing with all this and at 3am, my eyes went doink! Wide open. I was hearing Wills booming, godly voice saying "Wmi system failure more likely you silly Jack-ass!" And he looked just like Morgan Freeman wearing a Popeye the sailor man onesy and holding a giant Ar-15 which was strangely comforting and disturbing all at the same time.
I had bolted everything back up the way it was which meant that the WMI was probably leaking into the engine at that very moment and would put me right back where I was before with a locked engine. Maybe that jack-ass part was my own voice.
I got up, put some pants on and went out into the dark with nothing to protect me but a 15mm genuine Gear Wrench made in Taiwan to take the WMI injector that we think caused all of this out of the intake.

Thinking of all this (while trying to block the Will looking like Morgan Freeman part), I climbed back up to the engine bay and looked at the WMI injector. Gee, I don't know... you think it might be leaking?
View attachment 48215

I went over to the hardware store for a plug until I can get the Devils Own solenoid that sctrailrider suggested.

Oh yeah, the slow start thing...

One lesson that I am qualified to teach others is this... While troubleshooting and fixing one problem, you can and will be thoroughly confused by something else, completely unrelated that will go wrong at the same time.
After getting everything running, when I heard the slow start, I thought of WarWagons warning (say that 3 times fast) about a bent rod. Having never heard an engine run with a bent rod, would it slow start, I wondered? Fear set in.
But I also remembered that I had the charger on it for the last three days or so and they never really got up to full charge. Another hmmm... Sure enough, after a few starts, it wouldn't turn over any more. While a buddy was giving me a jump, he says "hey, this battery terminal is smoking!".
The day is positively chock full of hmmm...
I got her started, went up to the shop to swap out smoky with a good battery and she starts fine now. It still looks like it's not completely up to snuff so I'll probly get a pair of good yellow tops to solve that problem.

When it rains, it pours. You're not alone.