C-15 Cat Engine Problems.

Everything you are saying about the cooling issues is not normal. It shouldn't be getting so hot that once the fan comes on it can't cool off before the engine shuts down.

You have a few things that need to be looked at closely.

The fan hub.........Horton fan hubs on the Acert engines burn the friction material off of them early from cycling so much. Make sure the fan hub is not slipping when it engages.

You have a possible water pump problem...........CAT had an issue with water pumps in 2004-2005. The problem is the impeller may be slipping on the shaft. CAT issued a Technical Service Bulletin about this back then. There is a procedure to test the pump for output pressure..........have it done.

The gauge is wrong at 235........the fan comes on at 217 degrees, it goes off at 205. The High Coolant Temperature warning comes on at 225 degrees and Very High Coolant Temperature at 227 degrees....... if the temperature goes up 1 degree above 227 or it doesn't drop from 227 in less than a minute it's shutting down. The ECM is set to Shutdown this is a Customer Parameter in the ECM Configuration files that can be changed in the ECM........you could change this setting to Derate or Warning and give yourself a chance to pull the truck to the side of the road under power. The fan ON/OFF temperature can not be adjusted or changed in the ECM or flash file........it's written in CATERPILLAR stone. PDI has tried to change this in the flash file with no luck.

 

The temp issue could be as simple as the water regulaters. I had this issue with mine ran hot for about 1 week until they completly went. Would run warmer and warmer every day untill it would not cool down i've had to do them twice in the last 1.5 years. Also as said before guages are lnown to be wrong check it first.

 

I spent the last year running a 475hp acert and it never went over 220 no matter how hard I hammered on it. Did have to replace the water pump but that was just form normal wear. Still didn't cause it to overheat.

Mine was turned up as far as it would go without buying parts for it according to the boss. He thought it was putting out around 575hp. Didn't really pay attention to the mileage itself since he didn't worry about it. I was getting around 1300 miles out of 240 gallons. Probably more since I never tried to run it dry and the tanks were dented up a bit.

Mine had a ten speed and would have done better with a 13 so I know that nine is part of the problem. I'd have the radiator flushed out by a shop if replacing the water pump/thermostat didn't help it.

 

If I were you I would get the overheating fixed. It should not get hot enough to shut the truck down. I would look real close at your exhaust manifold for signs of soot. If its leaking you wont have any power. Check your cac and turbo boots. Any leaks before turbo on the exhaust side or leaks after the turbo will kill mpg and power.
You can send your ecm out only takes a couple of days. I dont think I would get the full stage 1 if I were you. I have heard you can get better mpg out of the 550 tune. Get the overheating fixed and get it tuned up you wont be very interested in selling it!
PS if your manifold is leaking I would put the PDI manifold on. If yours is not leaking I would not change it untill I was sure I was going to keep the truck awhile. I would do the tune if I had to borrow the money!!

 

Mr. Haney will most likely see this and im sure will offer his help.
The man comes with very good credentials. Just search this forum and you will find lots from him and about him. I have no first hand experience with him, but we have breifly emailed. I hope to do business with him someday. I believe he is honest and a "straight shooter". Many members here(and elsewhere) speak very well of him...

 

should have finished reading thread prior to posting previously. Mr. Haney has been here. I still believe he is your best bet with your ECM...

 

Most shops have air to air leak testers. It doesn't take long to test and should be free or cheap.

 

Don't know how old you radiator is, but you might want to try blowing it out with an airhose.

 

Experts chime in and I wish I hadn't posted lol. Oh well at least you guys got him looking in the right direction. And common sense should tell me anytime a motor shuts down due to overheating something is bad wrong regardless of what reputation for running hot a motor may have...