Dakota water temp is a little high
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Dakota water temp is a little high
Hi everybody, I'm new to the forum, first I'd like to state that I'm just a tinkerer and not the most experienced mechanic.
Ok so here's the deal. I have a 96 dodge dakota 4x4 v8. I just noticed that the water temp has been running a little higher than I think it should be. (Closer to the high side rather than the middle). I changed out the thermostat the other day because it looked like it was only opening and closing half way so my guage would bounce around.
Now of anyone could please help me in finding the problem so I don't have to replace a water pump if I don't need to I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Ok so here's the deal. I have a 96 dodge dakota 4x4 v8. I just noticed that the water temp has been running a little higher than I think it should be. (Closer to the high side rather than the middle). I changed out the thermostat the other day because it looked like it was only opening and closing half way so my guage would bounce around.
Now of anyone could please help me in finding the problem so I don't have to replace a water pump if I don't need to I would really appreciate it.
Thanks!
Theres a few things I'd check if my truck was running hot. Your thermostat was one of the things.
Your radiator cap could be the culprit. If its old it probably isn't working the way its supposed to. Which would lead to the boiling point of your coolant being lower and you could be running hot. Caps are cheap so its a good part to replace either way.
If your truck is leaking that could easily be the problem right there. If you've got the cash you could pick up a pressure tester but a few cheaper ways to find the leak are to; Clean up any mess you have so you have a clean slate to look at. You then could warm the truck up and visually watch for the leak but that can be annoying if its around the water pump. Or you could pick up a dye kit that you pour into your system and then with a black light you can easily pinpoint the source of the leak since it will lead you right to it and be super easy to find since under black light the dye would be a bright neon green colour.
The only other thing I can think of is that your radiator could be plugged by solder bloom. This is when minerals in the water if you don't use distilled or you have mineral heavy tap water literally form blockages in the core of your radiator. The only way to find out if this is whats going on if I remember right is to actually take your rad to a shop that specializes in rads and have it flow tested.
Edit: I just remembered a way to sort of self test this. If you take the fan of with your truck warmed up touch the fins on your radiator and check for cold spot or just any spot where the temp doesn't really match what the rest is like. Its obviously not 100% accurate but it works if you can't take the truck to a Radiator shop for a flow test.
Also for kicks why don't you just use a infrared temp reader(the fun kind with the laser :P) Have it read right by your temperature sensor that is located behind your alternator. It should read around 185-195 depending on if you've been driving. If its reading in that range then its your gauge thats at fault and I would replace it. The sensor is also a relatively cheap part.
Those are all the things I could think of. Hope they help
Your radiator cap could be the culprit. If its old it probably isn't working the way its supposed to. Which would lead to the boiling point of your coolant being lower and you could be running hot. Caps are cheap so its a good part to replace either way.
If your truck is leaking that could easily be the problem right there. If you've got the cash you could pick up a pressure tester but a few cheaper ways to find the leak are to; Clean up any mess you have so you have a clean slate to look at. You then could warm the truck up and visually watch for the leak but that can be annoying if its around the water pump. Or you could pick up a dye kit that you pour into your system and then with a black light you can easily pinpoint the source of the leak since it will lead you right to it and be super easy to find since under black light the dye would be a bright neon green colour.
The only other thing I can think of is that your radiator could be plugged by solder bloom. This is when minerals in the water if you don't use distilled or you have mineral heavy tap water literally form blockages in the core of your radiator. The only way to find out if this is whats going on if I remember right is to actually take your rad to a shop that specializes in rads and have it flow tested.
Edit: I just remembered a way to sort of self test this. If you take the fan of with your truck warmed up touch the fins on your radiator and check for cold spot or just any spot where the temp doesn't really match what the rest is like. Its obviously not 100% accurate but it works if you can't take the truck to a Radiator shop for a flow test.
Also for kicks why don't you just use a infrared temp reader(the fun kind with the laser :P) Have it read right by your temperature sensor that is located behind your alternator. It should read around 185-195 depending on if you've been driving. If its reading in that range then its your gauge thats at fault and I would replace it. The sensor is also a relatively cheap part.
Those are all the things I could think of. Hope they help
Last edited by Rabid21; Dec 13, 2012 at 03:23 PM.
Thread Starter
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Registered User
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Theres a few things I'd check if my truck was running hot. Your thermostat was one of the things.
Your radiator cap could be the culprit. If its old it probably isn't working the way its supposed to. Which would lead to the boiling point of your coolant being lower and you could be running hot. Caps are cheap so its a good part to replace either way.
If your truck is leaking that could easily be the problem right there. If you've got the cash you could pick up a pressure tester but a few cheaper ways to find the leak are to; Clean up any mess you have so you have a clean slate to look at. You then could warm the truck up and visually watch for the leak but that can be annoying if its around the water pump. Or you could pick up a dye kit that you pour into your system and then with a black light you can easily pinpoint the source of the leak since it will lead you right to it and be super easy to find since under black light the dye would be a bright neon green colour.
The only other thing I can think of is that your radiator could be plugged by solder bloom. This is when minerals in the water if you don't use distilled or you have mineral heavy tap water literally form blockages in the core of your radiator. The only way to find out if this is whats going on if I remember right is to actually take your rad to a shop that specializes in rads and have it flow tested.
Edit: I just remembered a way to sort of self test this. If you take the fan of with your truck warmed up touch the fins on your radiator and check for cold spot or just any spot where the temp doesn't really match what the rest is like. Its obviously not 100% accurate but it works if you can't take the truck to a Radiator shop for a flow test.
Also for kicks why don't you just use a infrared temp reader(the fun kind with the laser :P) Have it read right by your temperature sensor that is located behind your alternator. It should read around 185-195 depending on if you've been driving. If its reading in that range then its your gauge thats at fault and I would replace it. The sensor is also a relatively cheap part.
Those are all the things I could think of. Hope they help
Your radiator cap could be the culprit. If its old it probably isn't working the way its supposed to. Which would lead to the boiling point of your coolant being lower and you could be running hot. Caps are cheap so its a good part to replace either way.
If your truck is leaking that could easily be the problem right there. If you've got the cash you could pick up a pressure tester but a few cheaper ways to find the leak are to; Clean up any mess you have so you have a clean slate to look at. You then could warm the truck up and visually watch for the leak but that can be annoying if its around the water pump. Or you could pick up a dye kit that you pour into your system and then with a black light you can easily pinpoint the source of the leak since it will lead you right to it and be super easy to find since under black light the dye would be a bright neon green colour.
The only other thing I can think of is that your radiator could be plugged by solder bloom. This is when minerals in the water if you don't use distilled or you have mineral heavy tap water literally form blockages in the core of your radiator. The only way to find out if this is whats going on if I remember right is to actually take your rad to a shop that specializes in rads and have it flow tested.
Edit: I just remembered a way to sort of self test this. If you take the fan of with your truck warmed up touch the fins on your radiator and check for cold spot or just any spot where the temp doesn't really match what the rest is like. Its obviously not 100% accurate but it works if you can't take the truck to a Radiator shop for a flow test.
Also for kicks why don't you just use a infrared temp reader(the fun kind with the laser :P) Have it read right by your temperature sensor that is located behind your alternator. It should read around 185-195 depending on if you've been driving. If its reading in that range then its your gauge thats at fault and I would replace it. The sensor is also a relatively cheap part.
Those are all the things I could think of. Hope they help
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Joined: Nov 2012
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Thanks man, I appreciate the quick reply. I just put a new cap on it, still the same problem. I'm going out in a little while to borrow a friends temp gun to see if I can pinpoint any cold spots in the radiator and pump. I'm also keeping my eye on the coolant level to make sure it's not disappearing on me. There aren't any leaks and I haven't seen any coolant in the oil (thank god). I'll let you know what I come up with. Thanks again.
