My dakota has been getting up the end of the normal mark lately. I was told the thermostat could be stuck open causing it to get hotter on the gauge. It has always sucked up coolant like a fat kid eats cake so i dont think that head gaskets could be the problem. I may be wrong but what is my best option for right now.

The radiator was low so i filled it. Did nothing. Also it needs a flush bad so i will do that with the thermostat.

Any opinions would be great.

Thanks

Jake

 

If your going through a lot of coolent, then it sounds like you have a leak. Some can be a pin hole size that you can never see. When its that small it will loose the coolent as steem. And that may be hard to see. I would say take it to a shop that can test for leaks and repair them, or replace it. If it was a blown head gasket you should be burning it up so you would have some smoke or it could be in your oil. Check your oil if you see water bubbles in it.

 

Yea, just do a quick search through the engine compartment to see if you can find any obvious coolant leaks. Pay attention to the hoses, the water pump, and also look at the top/front of the block, where the upper radiator hose meets the block. Mine was leaking coolant from either the heater core hose fitting or one of the coolant temp sensors -- teflon taped them up and tighted them down, and no more leaks!

 

the radiator was low so i filled it about 5 days ago. Check it again today and it was low again. so im guessing there is a leak somewhere. I am replacing the thermostat right now so i will find out. It does smell like antifreeze, so what would that mean?

 

i had a small hole in my rad. hose just above the thermostat housing and it would not leak at idle but when the rpms came up it would start, it was crazy, but i would replace some hoses, heater hose can go bad too.

 

if your smelling antifreeze in the cab, check the rugs to see if they are damp, could be the heatercore leaking. get it tested or buy a test kit. i would buy a new thermastat and cap, they are cheap anyways. some leaks dont show up well until you get it tested with a pressure kit.

 

well i found out the thermostat was leaking. Gasket was bad and there was nasty old coolant rust all around the pipe that covers the thermostat.

Fixed the problem!

 

glad you got it fixed