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Dodge Durango Overheating Problems

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    wsnorton74wsnorton74 Member Posts: 2
    O4 durango still overheating, I have replaced waterpump, thermostat, fanclutch, radiator,and radiator cap, drive belt, and flush out system. still overheating. No water in oil and no white smoke or water out tail pipe. With cap off I do get a little blow pressure out of radiator. Any sugestions?
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    2004durango2004durango Member Posts: 3
    Replace auxiliary water pump & hoses. I have replaced both water pumps, thermostat, radiator, hoses, clutch fan, basically anything that has to do with cooling. My 04 finally stopped o/h. Also, make sure the coolant is the original dodge coolant. Good luck!
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    wsnorton74wsnorton74 Member Posts: 2
    Auxilary waterpump was leaking, took small pipe and joined two hoses together to bypass, so water will flow. Do you think that may be the problem because the water isn't circulating into the other heater core in back?
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    durango101durango101 Member Posts: 2
    Hello, I am having some issues with my 2000 Durango 4.7l. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will apologize now for anymisreads or spelling mistakes, I am posting this via my cell phone. Also, I wish tp thank you in advance!

    Heres the deal: I bought the truck about 5 months ago. The vehicle currently has 216xxx KM and is for the most part in good condition.

    In short:
    Truck is severely overheating, losing a lot of coolant with NO external leak (even under pressure), cylinder 8 is still misfiring (despite changed plugs), there is a coolant smell coming from the vents inside cabin but no wondow fogging or wet floors. Coolant seems clean of oil and oil looks free of coolant. I cant tell what color the exhaust is or if I smell coolant... I smell exhaust.

    Long version:
    When I bought the truck there was a smell comong from the vents but didnt know what it was until recently when I was told it was coolant/antifreeze. The windows dont fog up nor is there moisture on the passenger side floor. About a month ago, my gauge light came on telling me to check my gauges, when I did I saw that the truck had been overheating and was almost in the red. I pulled over as quickly as possible and let it cool for over an hour. Upon inspection, I found my coolant holding tank was full but my rad was empty. I filled her up and went on my way (drove from BC to Seattle ~270km) the truck was fine but I noticed that the rad was missing a bit of coolant again, so I toped ot up amd continued to keep an eye on it daily. For the first 3 Weeks_ish I was adding less than a cup of water but adding water daily and the check engine light came on (code p0308- cylinder 8 miscire), so I took it to the shop. There are no external leaks, even when put under pressure. The mechanic said to keep an eye out amd keep track of how much I was adding.
    About 2 Weeks ago it overheated again and again almost to the red. I pulled over and filled the rad again. Over the last two Weeks I had been adding a lot more coolant to the rad. The truck also began running rough. I brought it back to the shop (4 daus ago) where I had the spark plug for cylinder 8 replaced, the rad placed under pressure again and the code reset. Again there were no external leaks. Next day the check engine light was on again and reading the same code, cylinder 8 misfire.
    2 days ago I left for Seattle again, despite the truck now running rougher than before with idle around 550 (lower than the smooth 700 it usually idled at). Before I left home Iade sure all fluids were toped up and went on my way. It wasnt long before I began to overheat again. I pulled over waited added a lot of coolant and went on my way. About an hour to 1 1/2 hrs later I start to overheat again, I pull over and add the remaining coolant (at this point I had added a gallon of coolant since the morning when I toped up fluids). What I added wasnt enoigh and I ended up having to add another half gallon of coolant. Where is it going?

    Any ideas?
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    durango101durango101 Member Posts: 2
    Hello, I am having some issues with my 2000 Durango 4.7l. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I will apologize now for any misreads or spelling mistakes, I am posting this via my cell phone. Also, I wish tp thank you in advance!

    Heres the deal: I bought the truck about 5 months ago. The vehicle currently has 216xxx KM and is for the most part in good condition.

    In short:
    Truck is severely overheating, losing a lot of coolant with NO external leak (even under pressure), cylinder 8 is still misfiring (despite changed plugs), there is a coolant smell coming from the vents inside cabin but no window fogging or wet floors. Coolant seems clean of oil and oil looks free of coolant. I cant tell what color the exhaust is or if I smell coolant... I smell exhaust.

    Long version:
    When I bought the truck there was a smell coming from the vents but didnt know what it was until recently when I was told it was coolant/antifreeze. The windows dont fog up nor is there moisture on the passenger side floor. About a month ago, my gauge light came on telling me to check my gauges, when I did I saw that the truck had been overheating and was almost in the red. I pulled over as quickly as possible and let it cool for over an hour. Upon inspection, I found my coolant holding tank was full but my rad was empty. I filled her up and went on my way (drove from BC to Seattle ~270km) the truck was fine but I noticed that the rad was missing a bit of coolant again, so I toped ot up amd continued to keep an eye on it daily. For the first 3 Weeks_ish I was adding less than a cup of water but adding water daily and the check engine light came on (code p0308- cylinder 8 miscire), so I took it to the shop. There are no external leaks, even when put under pressure. The mechanic said to keep an eye out amd keep track of how much I was adding.
    About 2 Weeks ago it overheated again and again almost to the red. I pulled over and filled the rad again. Over the last two Weeks I had been adding a lot more coolant to the rad. The truck also began running rough. I brought it back to the shop (4 daus ago) where I had the spark plug for cylinder 8 replaced, the rad placed under pressure again and the code reset. Again there were no external leaks. Next day the check engine light was on again and reading the same code, cylinder 8 misfire.
    2 days ago I left for Seattle again, despite the truck now running rougher than before with idle around 550 (lower than the smooth 700 it usually idled at). Before I left home Iade sure all fluids were toped up and went on my way. It wasnt long before I began to overheat again. I pulled over waited added a lot of coolant and went on my way. About an hour to 1 1/2 hrs later I start to overheat again, I pull over and add the remaining coolant (at this point I had added a gallon of coolant since the morning when I toped up fluids). What I added wasnt enoigh and I ended up having to add another half gallon of coolant. Where is it going?

    Any ideas?
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    red1978red1978 Member Posts: 1
    Late as this is I am finding out that the timing cover sort of, falls apart with time. These particles then get lodged in smaller coolant passages and clog it. Aside from Dodge making this nightmare design, they take no responsibility for all the engines it seems to have killed.
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    kommiikommii Member Posts: 1
    Hey guys, i am sure that everyone has checked this on their vehicles but just in case.
    try checking your tension pulley
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    peddycoartpeddycoart Member Posts: 1
    I replaced the radiator with new one a new thermostat and its still over heating. The water pump is fine fan kicks on runs good . Just can't figure out why still over heating. If driving down hywy it stays cool about halfway hot, but if slow down it will start to over heat or drive in town over heats.
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    sdoutsdout Member Posts: 23
    I had a very similar problem with my Durango, recently. It is very likely that the electric fan is defective or intermittent unless you are losing coolant and/or oil without leaking, then you may want to have your coolant tested for emissions. If it contains emission you may have an internal crack in your block or a damaged head gasket. I've never heard of this test before, but I wish I had because this can save a lot of time and money for someone trying to fix a difficult cooling system problem. I had similar symptoms and had both problems. The theory is that the fan stopped working, the engine got hot and damaged the head gasket.
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    kscmackscmac Member Posts: 1
    I put in a 180 degree thermostat and a flex fan, no over heating problems! Remember the 4.7 engine is a reverse flow on the water and fan spin! The radiator cap sits on a plastic t-pipe that needs replaced as it gets soft and will goto pieces!
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    bwallace0911bwallace0911 Member Posts: 1
    So a month ago I got into a little finder bender and cracked my radiator and ac condenser. At the scene of the accident I could see it slowly leaking but nothing significant so I drove it 6.7 miles back to my house and by the time I got there it still had plenty of fluid and engine never went about normal temperature. Instead of filing an insurance claim for the accident it was easier and cheaper to just replace the radiator and condenser myself. The car sat at home for two days while I replaced the radiator and waited on the condenser to come in and then replaced it. After I replaced both of them I topped off all fluids and jacked it up and started it and watched for any sign of a leek for about twenty minutes. It started up sounded perfect never leaked a drop. I drove it two miles down the road and the engine died at a stop light it cranked right up and I pulled over to a gas station right next to me and it died again. This time when I cranked it up it made a horrible clanking sound and was sputtering. I had it towed to the dealership from there and it hasn't been driven since. Their diagnosis was that one of the valve seets had dropped and that it was misfiring on 4 and 7 and the engine needed to be replaced. Since the day I had it towed I filed my insurance claim and now am being told that nothing was caused by the accident that could have restricted the flow of fluids or damaged any of the cooling components to have caused this and that me driving 6.7 miles after the accident over heated the engine and caused all the damage. Keep in mind this durango is immaculate condition with under 90k original miles and never had a single mechanical problem before the accident. If the radiator and condenser were replaced and all fluids full and no leaks and the engine never over heating at any point since I have owned the car how could that much damage occur in under ten miles of driving and never overheating. If anyone could help shine some light on this situation I would greatly appreciate it. I have an insurance company telling me they wont pay for anything except the cracked bumper all the while my car has sat at service king for a month without being touched. I was told that this engine and block are actually pretty well made and durable but somehow without overheating and only driving it less than 10 miles the engine is toast and Im not going to let my insurance company get away with screwing me over and leaving me with a car that needs a new engine. Any help is much appreciated.
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    jeffinindy1962jeffinindy1962 Member Posts: 2

    I have a 2000 Dodge Durango SLT 4x4 5.9L with Towing Package. Two years ago I had a radiator leak and had to have it replaced. When I did I have both radiators replaced (The main for the engine core and the smaller one for the transmission. After that, I had absolutely no problem with my engine until about a week ago. I noticed the engine getting hot while doing city driving. I would rev the engine a couple times and the temp would go down to normal (below middle of the gauge). Now it won't even go down after reving. I have stop, let it cool, then drive until it gets hot. My milegage is 128,000.

    I opened the hood and noticed that the upper hose assembly (the one with a T connector with the Radiator Cap) was leaking. It looks like the T or the hose has failed. I just bought an upper assembly and will replace it, but I fear I'm only fixing a symptom and not the probelm.

    I have really liked this forun as it gave me a lot of ideas. First will be to change the Radiator Cap (apparently this little $6 item is often the cause of many over heaing problems if it does not properly seal.

    I am also going to do the 3 quick on/off clicks on the ignition to get the LED code in the odometer area to see if it leads me to something.

    Beyond that, I have good fluid level in the radiator and it is a nice green color (no dark color from rust etc).

    sdout or anyone else with experience with this issue:

    Do any of you have any other suggestions?

    Thanks

    Thanks,
    Jeff

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    jeffinindy1962jeffinindy1962 Member Posts: 2

    p.s. I am assuming the thermostat can be found just under the connection of the upper hose assembly goes into the engine block. Is this correct?

    Jeff

    Thanks,
    Jeff

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    janette2janette2 Member Posts: 1
    If your older Dodge Durango is overheating and you have changed the water pump, thermostat and radiator cap; then the problem is a hair line crack in the drain plug that causes a leak when there is pressure but will stop as soon as th epressure is gone.
    Another possibility is the plug itself has broken thread(s). You need to change the radiator out.
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    leeme57leeme57 Member Posts: 2
    I have a 2000 Durango 4 WD with a 459 V8 . The HAYNES manuel for my truck states ''it is normal for the Durango to overheat during extremely hot and humid conditions.. After I replaced 2 radiators, I read the book !
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    leeme57leeme57 Member Posts: 2
    I was on vacation last year @ Gulf Shores AL when my truck got so hot it shut off ! I called AAA { my best friends } who informed me that where I was @ , a 5 mile tow would not help me . They suggested I walk to behind the boat place where I was to a mechanic shop behind there . I did and the mechanic just added water when it had cooled down and it was fine ! The next day I returned and had the mechanic check my entire cooling system , He found nothing wrong. The rest of the trip. my truck ran fine , When I returned to Florida , my son in law bypassed the heater core as there was water in my front passenger floor board . My son in law Jason Sullins owns A & A AUTO PLUS in Lake Wales , FL. Since that time , I have had 2 radiators burst , but luckily the First was under warrenty so I didn't have to pay for the 2nd one ..except labor of course ! I guess they don't make radiators like they used too ! I have found that if I don't run the air , my truck gets hot faster ! But at least I know how to cool it back down now ! And now I have the premium membership @ AAA
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