My 02 runs a little over the half way mark on the temp gauge at all times ( once its warm ) which kicks the clutch fan on was wondering if that's ok ?

Normally it should run around 190 +/- 5F. I wouldn't think the fan would ever turn on with an unloaded truck unless you were going fast up a hill. Check your radiator for oil contamination since that blow by tube likes to puke all over it. If radiator is clear then I wouldn't worry about it. A hotter engine is more efficient, as long as it's not going over 212.

COPPER Core rad runs @ 180 degrees w/190 stat. even on 100 Plus days.If you have not discovered RMI25... search now.

Even my truck hauling trailers and firewood 193* to 197*F is normal run range... Climbing grades you might see 206* to 208*F

I should add this is on days I have my landscape trailer hooked up maybe a 5k lbs trailer at most

  blk90s13 said:

I should add this is on days I have my landscape trailer hooked up maybe a 5k lbs trailer at most

My post above is for climbing 7% gades with 16,080# GCW (~8,000# of trailer).

Temp going past 10% of normal is a time to shift and avoid related issues with ANY engine.Especially.. if you have a chip, which builds heat (very) quickly.Trucking since 64' and enjoying not sitting on the shoulder..

Well the halfway mark is 180 so I would think I am at 190-200 at most I am guess I am within the range, I wanna flush the system and change the coolant before this plowing season anyway and the rad does have some Gunk on the back side I Will power wash it off once the rain stops outside

Might be best to pull the radiator out to clean it. The temp would go up when I pulled my 5er up 6% grade.

Excellent example of a radiator w/typical buildup from blow-by vapor. Removing the radiator is an easy enough procedure for cleaning. I pulled mine at five years and it looked identical to your picture. The next time it was pulled for repairs, it looked the same (again), but it was to repair a side tank leak,(a wasted effort). I added an extension hose to my vapor system but it didn't help (much).Copper core radiators are available when the end tanks start to seep. Don't waste your time trying to epoxy the leak(s), they are not worth the effort and a band-aid [repair] at best. It was time for a new radiator.pc

Who got the step by step radiator removal ?

Not hard...

[*]Drain coolant.

[*]Unhook all hoses and cooler lines.

[*]remove coolant bottle and the windshiled bottle.

[*]Remove the few screws and the clips holding the fan shroud.

[*]Move fan shroud towards the engine and leave.

[*]Unbolt the 2 bolts on the radiator.

[*]Lift radiator out carefully.

  IBMobile said:

Might be best to pull the radiator out to clean it. The temp would go up when I pulled my 5er up 6% grade. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3184[/ATTACH]

Great photo... I made the mistake of buying a new radiator before I pulled the old one to see if it was clogged. :spend:However, the fluid I had was really ugly as well, so I may have had some gunk in the radiator. Kinda funny that I feel that I go through fewer radiators (none), heater cores, and water pumps since I started flushing my coolant annually.