Hi all!!! I just bought my 2000 Dodge Dakota V6 in August. The water pump went out of it in October and I had it replaced. Now, I have no heat. I am reading all of these threads that say that the hoses may be reversed, but no where on here does it show me what to look for and what to do. (In case you hadn't guessed, I'm not a mechanic and I don't know what to do ) Can someone walk me thru it? I really don't want to take this to a mechanic and pay someone to switch hoses around when I am perfectly capable of doing it. Any help/advice/photos would be greatly appreciated!! Thank you in advance!!

-Sarah

 

Welcome to the site. I will move this thread to the second generation Dakota section,
FF

 

One heater hose runs from the top of the thermostat housing back to the firewall. The other heater hose will be the smaller diameter hose coming from the top right side of the water pump. Both hoses will run to the firewall where they connect to fittings that connect to the heater core.

I personally have never heard of heater hoses being reversed but I guess it's possible. It may be more likely that the heater core is plugged up. Remove the heater hoses from the thermostat and the water pump and use a water hose in one heater hose to flush the heater core out. Direct the other heater hose into a 5 gallon bucket. When you flush the heater core a lot of crud will come out the other hose. Flush in one direction until it runs clear out of the other hose then reverse hoses and flush in the opposite direction till it runs clear. Connect the hoses back and top off the antifreeze and the heat should work much better.

The clogged heater core is a pretty common problem on Dakota's.

Jimmy

 

also make sure you have coolant,or enough of it...perhaps the thermostat is stuck open? might be worth putting one in either way...