Should I be worried?

[midnight]

So I get the air bags on today, do a tune up, change air filter, and the fuel filter. Then I load up the boat and head to the lake. On my way there on a hillie part my temp gauge starts to creep up. It never got a over 3/4 but I am worried. I checked the coolant and it's full. The water pump and t stat was changed about 4 months ago. The cooling fan seems to be working.

Any ideas? Is this normal. I have pulled slot of boats with my chevy trucks but not had a rise in temp while doing it.

[irishboy02]

Do you tow in D or 3? Always tow in 3, D will hurt your trans and cause your motor to work harder too (theres a post somewhere are ere talking abut it)

Also take into consideration air temp, humidity, altitude etc. These can all effect intake temp which means higher engine temp.

Water boils at 212 F...coolant is ~260. Its made for higher temps, thats it job. Also, dont get too worked up, Its a dummy gauge. When its reading 210, its actually 190. Unless you start hitting 240 its really nothing to worry about, let the coolant system do its job

[Trail X]

Unless there's a difference between the 2004 and 2005 algorithems, I would worry.

Mine just barely starts to creep above 210 when my coolant hits 220-225. I don't know what the trigger point is, but I'd assume you're hitting 240 or so. Definitely tow in 3, it increases your Revs so you have higher coolant flow through the radiator and transmission.

[midnight]

Well I did 200 miles today in a ton of hills with the boat. In pulled fine in 3 and stayed around 210. Once I hit the big hills it went up to 3/4. But it is around 100' today with 70% humidity.

[irishboy02]

When hitting hills and stuff- esp with the hills and temps. My suggestion is try and coast as much as possible and avoid using cruise control. Also a coolant flush might be a good idea in your near future. Not as a necessity, just as preventative maintenance since you do give it a good workout fairly often.

[MrSmithsTB]

Not sure if this has been asked, but do you have a trans cooler? If not, you might want to invest in one. Could save you a lot of hassle in the long run.

[midnight]

It has the factory towing package with trans cooler. Be it a small one. That is one thing on my list.

[Zero]

I dont think our trucks ever came with an aux trans cooler from the factory. I have the extended model, with the gm tow package.....and I only have the trans cooler in the rad, just like ever other Trailvoy out there (I recently installed a trans cooler a few months ago). If I am wrong, someone please correct me.