I have a 2004 Durango 4.7L and lately the temp gauge has been increasing to HOT when I am idling or in traffic. Once I start driving, the temp goes back down to the middle. Today at a stop light I put it in neutral and rev'd the RPM to about 1500 and the temp started to go down, instead of getting hotter like it normally did.

I live in Chicago and it's been about 10 degrees here so I have the heat on. When I am driving and the temp gauge is normal, the heat is fine and extremely hot. When I am idling and the temp gauge increases, the heat in my Durango gets cold. Could this be a fan issue maybe? Please let me know if you have any advise on what I should do. Thanks!

 

1) On the 4.7... make sure your coolant is fresh and topped off. Then make sure the system is properly burped.

That should take care of it completely assuming nothing is physically broken or failing.

2) **IF** the above is done correctly, you have a malfunctioning electric fan or an obstruction most likely in the radiator however.

If I am laying percentage odds... it is 90% the first thing and 10% the later.

IndyDurango

 

Thanks Indy, I am going to flush and refill the coolant this weekend and see if that helps. I would just top it off with more coolant now and see what happens, but I'd rather try it with all new coolant.

Do you think any damage can happen these next few days driving as long as I monitor the temp gauge and it doesn't get too hot? With traffic on the way to work the past couples days the needle has been getting to about 3/4 hot at times because of the stop and go traffic.

 

"Properly burped" is the KEY above.

Any excessive heat is bad. More so on 4.7s so I can't honestly tell you to go ahead and it will be alright. I'm not there to see how "hot" really is.

Keep in mind, my 5.9 never reaches over 185. Ever. It is a fault actually and too efficient.

IndyD