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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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6/30/2003
19:26:39
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 Subject: engine overheating!!!!
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i have a problem with my 94 dakota 5.2L engine. The problem is that when the ac is on and running for more than 5 minutes, the water gauge shows it over heating. I've replaced the radiator, water pump, thermo from 195 deg to a 180 deg thermostat, but it still shows that the engine is overheating. What is the prolem and how can i fix it?
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rtdkota
R/T
6/30/2003
19:48:59
|  RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Temp sending unit, or maybe a blown headgasket? Cracked heads?
Sam
www.socaldakota.com
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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6/30/2003
19:52:48
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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keep in mind that i am in a very hot climate in arizona, and the truck has lived in chicago for 10 years
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rtdkota
R/T
6/30/2003
21:44:45
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Check the sending unit-- heads on the magnums have a tendency to crack-- do you run low on coolant?? (I am familar with Hot weather, I am in the east county of San Diego-- plus frequent Yuma, PHX, and Las Vegas)
Sam
www.socaldakota.com
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
01:32:21
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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i havent noticed any coolant loss. I had the water pump blow out 8 months ago and it took the serpentine belt with it. on the drive out to phoenix from chicago it was fine all the way til new mexico/ arizona border when i started to notice this problem. My friend from uti did mention the sending unit. when it ran hot in nm, i put a 20 oz bottle of water in the resevoir tank to hold it and it did but the high temp freaks me out cause that is how the last pump blew and dont have another $400 to fix again.
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
02:12:34
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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i havent noticed or my friends with any smoke out the exhaust. so that would eliminate the possibility of a blown head gasket. Also what is the deal with the fuel gauge; it will only read gas if it is topped off or at a stand still full, someone mentioned that it is a common prob with the 94 dakota being that the float is on the fuel pump assembly, do you think it got disconnected or just needs a new pump?
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
02:13:37
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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i havent noticed or my friends with any smoke out the exhaust. so that would eliminate the possibility of a blown head gasket. Also what is the deal with the fuel gauge; it will only read gas if it is topped off or at a stand still full, someone mentioned that it is a common prob with the 94 dakota being that the float is on the fuel pump assembly, do you think it got disconnected or just needs a new pump?
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
02:17:30
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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do you have a catalog i can obtain from your performance shop sam? Email me at tommyfennig714@msn.com for reply. I am very picky about where i buy parts and dont trust anyone unless they know what they are talking about.
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HotRodSRJ
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
08:45:49
|  RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Check to see that your gauge and sender are correct first. Does the engine overheat when at idle and/or slow speeds or cruising or all the time?
Overheating at idle or slow speeds is likely an airflow problem across the radiator which suggests fan/clutch issues. This is especially true if you speed up and it cools down to the thermostat opening/cycling point. Then you might either need a new clutch or consider an electric booster fan in front. Spal fans from www.streetrodstuff.com are very good.
If you have a crusing problem and not idle then it could be a several issues. Lower hose collapsing (no lower hose spring) and even an intake leak producing an overly lean condition.
Also go to my cooling forum at http://www.inccn.net/jscooling.htm for more inforamtion on cooling.
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JasonB
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
09:39:47
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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To try to help out with some of the mis-information here: 1) simply because you have NO smoking does NOT indicate no blown head gasket or no cracked or warped head, do not rule those out without a "block" test; 2) Magnum heads do NOT have a tendancy to crack unless severely overheated (yes it can and does sometimes happen, but there NO tendancy)
I would lean towards fan clutch failure OR poor or restricted flow thru the cooling system.
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doug4.7
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
10:20:31
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Two ideas:
1. clogged radiator - solution is to get it professionally flushed.
2. Bad A/C fan relay - solution is to get relay replaced.
I had the same problem on another car of mine (not my DAK), so these are just suggestions that worked for me (I don't even know if your DAK has an electric fan associated with the A/C).
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rtdkota
R/T
7/01/2003
11:12:45
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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"2) Magnum heads do NOT have a tendancy to crack unless severely overheated (yes it can and does sometimes happen, but there NO tendancy) "
I have 3 friend's that are master mechanics for a local 5 star (yeah, i know-- 5 star hahaha)-- well, after I did my heads (and found 5 out of 8 cyl cracked, w/ a friend's having 1 out of 8 cracked during the same double install weekend)-- they told me it is VERY common with the magnum heads-- right between the intake/exhaust valves-- Small, but enough to allow coolant to escape into the combustion chamber. There is a TSB about it as well-- but no recall. My truck has never been over 210 degrees btw.
"Two ideas:
1. clogged radiator - solution is to get it professionally flushed.
-- Possibly.
2. Bad A/C fan relay - solution is to get relay replaced. "
Being it's a 94, and has only a thermo clutch, non electrical fan-- there's no relay.
Have a pressure test done on your cooling-- preferably with the engine at operating temps-- if you have cracked heads-- the pressure will show a drop-- A compression test might give you an insight as well (if you show a pressure drop in the coolant system, but cannot find the leak).
I don't have a 'catalog'... but I am very reputable, and have been around for a while... Where abouts are you in PHX? I have quite a few friends and dealership contacts over there.
Call me.
Sam
619-274-1292
www.socaldakota.com
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
16:26:17
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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its hard to tell the exact temp. the gauge only shows H/C. but the normal operating range is 1/8 in below dead center. The 180 deg thermo set it at 1/4 below center. and the radiator is fairly new (under 2 years old). and have also noticed slight oil pressure loss when sitting at a stop but will pick up when starting to go again. so far i am playing safe and only driving at night where it for sure wont heat up excessivly.
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
16:30:10
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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i am highly thinking of installing a water gauge to see the exact temp. while operating, that will atleast take a little worry off my shoulders when fixed.
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JasonB
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
18:02:07
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Please allow me to clarify...here in the heart of truck country (Tennessee), this dealership does not see failing heads with any regularity. In fact, I bet the last V-8 head replacement we did was last year sometime and was because of excessive overheating and it had high mileage. AND, in the 5+ years I have been at this dealership, the total number of V-8 head replacements due to failures other than overheating is probably less than 10.
I will be more careful to NOT try to speak for the experiences of others.
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HotRodSRJ
Dodge Dakota
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7/01/2003
19:54:07
|  RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Tommy......you STILL have not answered the critical questions that I put forth. The answer will determine the exact course to look!
Is this overheating (in your words) at idle/slow speeds or cruising...or both? If only at idle, does the temp gauge come back to approximate operational level of the thermostat?
When engines run hotter the oil pressure can drop. I would not worry about it.
Get an IR gun and shoot the top radiator. This will tell me approximately what your coolant exit temperatures are. Yes...the actual water temp will be hotter and I know from my experience what to expect.
ps....changing the opening/cycling point of a thermostat has NOTHING to do with cooling system capacity to cool.
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rtdkota
R/T
7/02/2003
09:50:56
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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JasonB- Just relating what I have dealt with myself, just like you.
I've found that trying to find used heads, even those with fairly low mileage (less than 20k miles) for porting-- 1/2 of the heads found had cracks between the valves. There's probably thousands of Rams/Dakotas/vans that have cracked heads, but don't lose enough coolant to make it noticeable or they just keep adding coolant thinking they have a leak somewhere.
I'll take some high quality pictures of one of my stock heads (kinda crusty from sitting in the garage now for over a year)--- I didn't even notice the cracks at first glance--
Sam
www.socaldakota.com
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TOMMY
Dodge Dakota
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7/02/2003
13:37:44
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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not so much at idle speed. I test drove it last night and had no problems at night where the air temp is under 100 deg, it didnt overheat. It seems like it will only do it during the day. it will be fine all day if it sat there at idle, it will only do it during normal driving conditions during the day. i even tried to rip on the engine by draggin around town last night, but no overheating. Does this info help yet hot rod?
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HOTRODSRJ
Dodge Dakota
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7/03/2003
08:28:50
|  RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Tommy, the problem with all this is that we still do not know how hot it's really getting? This is a problem with "indicators" instead of real gauges. It's just simply impossible to conclude anything without a calibration to a good known yardstick so to speak.
I really suspect that there is really nothing wrong per se, but getting a real VDO or Autometer water temperature gauge and installing it would be the ticket. Calibrate the gauge first in boiling water by hooking it up to a power source first. Then you will know. I do not know where you can easily tap the water jacket. I hope on the intake somewhere. Or, go where your other gauge is sending from and disconnect and replace it. Some mechanical units will come with a
I suspect that a booster pusher electric fan will help in the daytime because all that is changing is the ambient airflow temperatures! I have also seen guys mount these fans inside the shroud in front of the regular fan if there is enough room.
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/03/2003
14:26:40
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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trust me when i say there is plenty of room under the hood to install anything. There is so much room that you can put in a 440 ci motor in the 94 dakota's. i am going to try to obtain a digital thermometer to get read outs on the enginge block; radiator; and on the hoses, and was thinking of an acurate water temp gauge to replace the existing gauge that only shows hot/cold gauge in the instrumental panel below the voltometer. Also thanks to everyone who posts an idea or simple reply to my problem. Every reply just eliminates problems that wouldnt be by process of elimination. Thanks everyone.
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Boat Anchor
Dodge Dakota
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7/03/2003
15:16:59
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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Forgive me for butting in on anothers question, but anyway, I live in AZ as well and it has been hotter than a muther last week or so. I posted a question about a rattle I hear when I engage the AC at idle, and what is causing it? It is hard for me to pinpoint the origin of the noise but definitelty somewhere in the front of the engine. I was thinking ALT, fan clutch, somebody else said ac clutch??? Now I am noticing that the trucks temp is high at idle (drive thru's etc.) up to about 210 deg. and that the ac starts blowing warm, but as soon as I get back to cruising speed the temp gauge drops back down to I guess 180 deg. approx. and the AC will blow cold again. Going by what HotRodSRJ said about fan/clutch issues at idling, does this sound like what is making that noise and is affecting my cooling at idle? Sorry about all the typos, I was in a hurry. Thanks.
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tommy
Dodge Dakota
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7/03/2003
18:04:54
| RE: engine overheating!!!!
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it does sound like an a/c problem, but i'm not a proffesional. I had a similiar prob with my '92 nissan sentra, so i took the a/c compressor out and it was fine, but living in a city where the temp reaches over 100* wouldnt be the best thing to do, especially if you want to keep extra kool. try posting a subject on your own and see what you get back. there is alot of people out there with similiar probs as you with the exact vechile as you; you would be suprised on how many responses you will get back in one day.
Tommy
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