As the others said, I'd suspect your radiator and fan clutch. Also, does your auxiliary fan coming on? I ask because mine won't get that hot even without the main fan at idle because the aux fan comes on around 208.

 

Thanks for all of the advice fellas. The fan clutch seems to be fine. The radiator drained like a champ when I drained it yesterday and there was signs of any junk coming out of it. My temps while cruising 45-55 are in the mid 190's. I did park it uphill last night and just went and checked it, apparently it wasn't bled completely because the coolant tank was almost empty. I'll check back in later with good temps when I have time to play with it.

 

There ya go.

A pleasing result when it's something cheap/simple.

 

Good result!

 

Could you guys please give me the details on the fan clutch conversion? Is it possible to swap just the clutch on a 2004. Rock Auto lists the Hayden clutch for this truck, but that doesn't make sense if it requires the whole thing to be replaced.

 

03/04 is a one piece unit. Rock Auto is incorrect. You will need a 99-02 fan blade, then you can install the fan clutch to it.

99-02 Fan Blade will have a ring completely around it vs the 03/04 one piece unit that is just blades with no outer ring. That's the simplest way to spot an 03/04 setup within seconds, then once the 03/04 setup is removed from the D2 you'll see that it has no bolts holding the clutch onto the fan as it's a one piece design.

 

As Best said, the earlier one looks like a wagon wheel. The later one is just fan blades.

 

Update on temps...

Temps are staying in the 204-210 range, 199-204 while driving, 204-210 while sitting in traffic. Checked the coolant and it does have a little bit of junk in it, nothing major, just looks like leftover of dex cool, maybe the size of grains of sand. Probably gonna bite the bullet and replace the radiator and fan clutch.

 

If you have tested the fan clutch and there are no symptoms of failure I'd think the next step should be the radiator only. One step at a time.

 

I'm a proponent of pulling block drain plugs when doing a drain/flush to ensure a thorough clearing of contaminants from block cooling passages. Block holds more coolant that radiator and should be drained/flushed as the manual recommends.

Most discount removing block plugs because it's a pain and a bit more work. All the the crap you hear about or see flushed out of the radiator and other orifices likely includes more of the same sitting in the bottom of the block cooling passages.

Prior to my water pump and thermostat changes drained/flushed and douched with a gallon of vinegar added to water. Ran for a few days drained/flushed a couple more times with just water.

Temps dropped more dramatically after a proper drain/flush than when new 180 thermostat installed. Water pump and fan/clutch no difference noticed.

Something you may want to consider before spending the times and bucks for a new radiator install.
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