Hello All,

I am new to the forum and looking for some advice. I have an 04 Dakota, 3.7L v6. 114,000miles

About a week ago, the trucks check guages light came on and My temp was very high. This had never happened before. I pulled over and let it cool down and noticed my coolant was extremely low, so I topped it off and headed home. After about 10 mins, the truck started overheating again, heard some knocking and coolant blowing out of the overflow all over the engine compartment.

Next day, coolant was basically empty again so I added a little to get me to the mechanic, the whole way it ran at normal temp and seemed relatively OK.

Mechanic said the thermostat gasket needed to be changed, so he changed the t-stat and gasket. He also said he did a cooling system pressure check and determined it to be OK.
Drove the truck very little all week until today when I took it for an oil change, (it was due anyway) and i noticed a "weed whacker type noise when accelerating. It was almost hard to notice but I know my truck and this is definitely a new sound. Truck runs and is not overheating after driving around all morning.
Suspected a blown head gasket, as I have some rust colored fluid leaking from the front around the water pump and more beneath the coolant reservior. (Its hard to tell if its new after the overflow last week but the truck is definitely low on coolant again today.)
Got it home form the oil change and let it cool and checked the oil for coolant and it looks ok...not milky...yet...or thats my fear at least.

Any advice on what I should look for next? here's a recap of the symptoms im having.

-No white colored smoke
-Definitely a coolant smell while driving under the hood, but again, coolant was sprayed all over engine compartment last week so i can't tell if its new or old coolant burning up)
-significantly fast coolant loss, without obvious coolant leak
- no obvious misfiring
-Rust colored liquid leaking under coolant reservior (new coolant is classic neon green) but the leak is rusty brown
- Weed whacker type sound when accelerating
-Water leaking from tailpipe

 

Welcome to the forum!

The coolant smell, especially when it sprayed everywhere, can last for a while.

There really shouldn't be any coolant near the water pump. A head gasket leak is usually internal - not visible on the outside. Is the water pump leaking?

Try to find out if that is old/new liquid under the reservoir.

Some water from the tailpipe is normal.

Not sure what you mean by weed whacker sound. Check your fluid levels, all of them.

 

I re-checked my coolant color I was mistaken, it is the orange color, and there is a leak below the reservior but i cant tell where the source is. Checked the upper radiator hose, it had some coolant on the bottom of it but no active leak. There is a puddle on the debris guard below it. I cleaned the guard and wiped down any old coolant in there I could get to and will recheck it tomorrow to see if and where any new leaks may be. There is fluid around the water pump (on the housing) but I don't see a leak from visual inspection when the truck is off or running. There is also coolant in and around the fan guard, (obviously looks as though the fan sparyed it all on there) All other fluid levels are good.

Thanks so much for your reply Dan! I really appreciate the opinion!

 

The only thing on the reservoir should be a hose.

You should not see coolant around the water pump. If it's never been changed I'm betting it's failed. That it looks like the fan "sprayed it all" is pretty much confirmation.