I have a 96 Dodge Ram with the 360 engine. Two weeks ago I noticed the truck's temp gauge was starting to hit really high temperatures. It was reading like 250* I took an infared gun and checked temperatures under the hood no problems. Nothing was running that hot in fact it was hitting at most 195-200* so I fiqured the temp gauge must be shot maybe the temp sensor was going. Never got around to replace the temp sensor. Well on Monday my truck overheated temp gauge read 250* and it started just draining anti-freeze unto the driveway. Looked like it was draining from behind the pulley assemblies. So when my Dad came home from work I told him what happened. I checked on a few forums and came up with that it sounded like the thermostat was stuck closed. So last night I changed the thermostat and gasket. But the truck's temp again started to rise on the way back from the shop got to about 220 by the time we got home(shop is about 2miles from my house).

So this morning my Dad takes the truck down to the shop to have the mechanic look at it. He did some temp reading thingy and it was running at about 215-216*. Again my Dad drove it from my house to the shop...2 miles. I go down there and they say the truck is fine. So I hop in and take it around for a quick ride. All-in-all about a 3-3 1/2 mile drive to my house. Temp gauge reads 250* when I pull in the driveway. Get out of the truck and here a hissing noise, pop the hood she is smoking again. Then starts draining anti-freeze again. Coming from behind the pulley assembly area. But where the A/c condenser is it was like puddled with anti-freeze. My brother looked at it while I tried to get under the truck to see where it was draining and he said it looks like it is puddling by the head.

Mechanic said the water pump is good and that the head is not junk. But this truck is overheating like crazy. I'm out of idea's and suggestions. I have put less then 5,000miles on this truck and have already replaced the transmission and now am tearing into the motor. Just getting tired of sticking money into this thing. The truck has 183,000 miles and I'm about ready to get rid of it I'm so sick of this crap. I'll post the idea's I have of selling this in another thread, I need to get this fiqured out. My folks say if the head is junk then I should replace it but I am so sick of sticking money in this thing. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks.

 

Yikes. OK, so you've eliminated the possibility that the T-stat was junk, good first move. When you say the antifreeze is coming out behind the pully assembly, it gets a little tough to see.

Sadly enough, I think you are probably going to have to dig into it, and at a minimum replace the water pump. My 97 was doing the same thing, and it was leaking out the weep hole in the bottom of the pump. While you have the front of the motor apart, you can look around the heads to see if you can see any gasket material pushed out, etc.

For it to continue to run hot and boil over, the water isnt circulating properly... or its getting overly hot in one of the water jackets near that front cylinder, either way.. its going to take a mini-teardown to really isolate it.

Good luck man!

 

You might check the heater by-pass hose attached to the water pump. It's such a pain to get to many people (including myself) neglect it when replacing the water pump.

 

Check the oil, make sure no coolant is there. Could be the gasket on the timing cover or maybe even the by pass hose.

 

i've heard of people getting 2 and 3 bad thermostats in a row from the parts store, may want to return it. of course you may be able to check it with a stethescope (metal rod pushed against your ear). i'm sure you would hear it open and start flowing if you put the stethescope on the metal pipe right above the t-stat just before it hits operating temp.

 

could be leaking around the water pump and getting blown back by the fan and that could be why it looks like its pooling on the head.

 

Thank you guys for the replies! Yup already checked the oil, no coolant in there. I started thinking about that hose as well. I'm gonna see if I the parts store has the hose in stock and then I'm going to get another t-stat seeings how I have to rip all that stuff out again anyways mineaswell replace it. I had gotten a 195 t-stat... I'm going to get a 180*. Water pump was changed last year or the year before by the guy I bought it from.. but we can see how honest he was about this thing. Exactly once the antifreeze started leaking behind the pulley I couldn't see crap. But I think its a good bet that the hose is junk. Because remember I said it was hissing? Wouldn't that be a sign of a bad hose? And literally when I say the antifreeze drained out... it drained as if you were to take a hose off and let it drain into a pan on the floor.

If anyone has anymore possibilities on what it could be post them up please. Thanks to the guys who have posted replies. I'll keep you updated on this thing.

 

hissing could be a bad hose or it could be the leak hitting the hot block or manifolds. you could run it and watch the engine with a face shield on until it starts leaking so you'll know exactly where its coming from

while you have the belt off, grab the fan shaft and spin it, you should hear it in the pump making a kind of "glop, glop" sound but if its free spinning its got issues.

 

Well replaced the t-stat again I put in the 180*. The one I put in last night worked fine. I also replaced the temp sending unit and the hose that goes to the water pump. Well did the same drive as I did this morning about 3miles and well she hit 250* again! No hissing or leaking coolant or steam/smoke. Now what?! I am out guys I have no clue what it could be but I don't feel comfortable driving this thing for even 20min's. Any sugestions??

 

If it was me I would hook up a aftermarket temp gauge to verify the problem is real. The stock gauge might be having problems. Like Sheriff said there is the chance you got a few bad t-stats. I would boil test them to be sure there not hanging up and sticking randomly.