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06:45:21 - 04/18/2024
General Dakota Board
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bat
Dodge Dakota
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4/29/2005
20:32:10
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 Subject: Cooling System Woes HELP!!
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I have a 1999 dakota 2.5l 2WD manual trans. Well about a month ago I started having some overheating issues. I first Drained the cooling system adding new antifreeze and a new radiator cap just in case that was the problem. It was fine for about one week. Then it started again, this time was different. Now my truck would overheat when I had barley been driving (about 3 min.) also now you could see steam comming out from under the hood. I tried turning on the heat to cool off the engine and it worked. The truck seemed fine as long as I kept the heater on in the cab. This is until last weekend, I know your thinking this was just a bad thermostat right? Wrong. I changed out the thermostat last week and all hell broke loose. the truck no longer overheats which is good, but now there are all new problems and I am freaking out. First my front defrost vents are blowing cold air even when i turn the dial to hot(and the engine is hot). Second I noticed small peices of a mesh like substance comming from the vents as I turned the knob from hot to cold and back again. this is strange because all of my other vents in the car work fine(pannel and floor). Third and this is the kicker The truck is overheating after I shut it off. I have never seen or heard of this before,but its true. Ill drive around town until the engine warms up and then I park, shut off the truck and within 5 minutes steam starts comming from under the hood. I have checked all the hoses and looked for leaks everywhere, but none to be found. However a puddle of radiator fluid kept pooling up under my truck. Then I noticed that it looked like it could be comming from the radiator so I went to the store and bought a bottle of radiator leak stop which has worked for my other vehicles in the past. It hasn't worked. Now I find myself filling the coolant overflow every morning so I dont blow up the engine. I feel like ive trird everyting. I am no idiot and can fix about anything, but I need some serious anwsers. HELP Anybody.
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R/T
Dodge Dakota
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4/29/2005
22:33:59
|  RE: Cooling System Woes HELP!!
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Message:
thats not uncommon, as when the truck/engine is running, its circulating coolant through the radiator... I work as a tech, and a sure fire way to check an overheating engine is to run it for a few minutes then shut it off. sounds like you've got a few issues to me. what temp thermo did you use (should be either 180 for performance, 190 for stock)? did you mix the coolant 50% water, 50% antifreeze? if not, that could be your issue,antifreeze only protects freezing and rust, water carries away heat.. did you "burp" the system? run it from cold to hot with the cap off... it removes air from the system... if air is in the way of the thermo, it won't open as it should... what color was the old coolant? if it was murky, dirty, brown, or otherwise contaminated, your radiator could be somewhat clogged. back flushing, removing the rad and flowing water at pressure the opposite way may free up the debris. check the hoses too, the heater hoses should be hot to heat the interior, if they aren't, then you may have gotten debris into the heater core too, especially if you're now getting no heat at all. For the interior stuff, outside of tearing open the ductwork and cleaning it out, theres not much I can think about that stuff flying out.. unless its stuff on the heater core, but that would be blowing crap out all the ducts.
so, i'd start by burping the system, this will also let you see if coolant is flowing through the system, to see if its clogged. the heater hoses should get hot first, then the radiator hoses... since the heater core is the "first" radiator to be heated before the thermo opens up.. then if you still have issues, I'd try to get the radiator cleaned out.
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AJ
Dodge Dakota
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4/30/2005
18:20:49
| RE: Cooling System Woes HELP!!
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FYI I work for the leading radiator manufacturer in the world as a quality engineer - the previous post is correct, but just wanted to give you one tip - the radiator leak stop products you put in a radiator literally clog up the tubes, thereby decreasing performance. If there's an issue and you look to keep the vehicle long term I highly recommend a new radiator... As far as the situation with the vents, if steam is coming out, it's probably the heater core that is leaking, and the substance coming out could be some melted foam packing used to seal the damper doors on the HVAC.
AJ
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bat
Dodge Dakota
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6/10/2005
22:26:46
| RE: Cooling System Woes HELP!!
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Message:
Well, I thank you guys for the advice. I followed your suggestions and everything seemed to be fixed. I drained and flushed the radiator and cooling system, then refilled and made sure to burp the system before sealing it back up. Everything seemed fine for the past two months now the problems are back exactly the same. Except now I seem to be losing more cooling fluid then before and I am constantly having to run the fan while keeping the heat turned all the way up. I am now at my witts end and sick of trouble shooting for the problem. I think I am going to break down and take it in for service. If any one has any other suggestions that have not been preveiously mentioned then feel free to give me some kind of feed back. I have two days before my service appointment and dealerships do not go easy on a man's wallet. Thanks in advance.
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