Greetings to you all, My name is Bob (CocaColaDodge), and yes I am new here and am in need of advice.
If there is an archive ohere where I can search common topics, can someone direct me how to get to it?

Now for my story,
Shortly after I bought my most recent Dakota, I started having various issues with it from Starter, Ignition switch, Overheating, fuel pump, fuel lines a few days later... brakes, you all know, the average stuff. Well one by one I have gotten these fixed, but the Overheating still remains a reoccurring issue. Here is what I have done for the cooling system so far:
Ok First I should mention that this is a 1993 Dakota Sport, 3.9L, 5 speed 2wd
NEW Waterpump, Thermostat, Thermostat housing, upper hose, lower hose, radiator, fan-clutch, fan, timing chain & tensioner (yes correctly set), cut holes in the hood for heat extractors from an 90s chrysler lebaron (the black things on my hood in my contact image). Oh yeah, all new fluid correctly mixed a couple times.

No, the oil and antifreeze are not mixing, so I don't think it is a head issue; however I just got a compression tester to check later today.

It all started when the timing cover gasket burst a leak and started spraying everywhere, I thought it was the waterpump so I started off replacing that and the thermostat, and since I couldn't get the fan-clutch to break loose off the original pump, I got a new fan and fan-clutch (yes proper direction of rotation on the fan). When I started filling the radiator I found where it was leaking at the timing cover gasket (top right behind the waterpump). so I drained the fluid back out, pulled everything back off, pulled the timing cover, tore the oilpan gasket, dropped the oilpan to change that gasket and check the condition of the bottom end, NICE :-). the timing chain was super sloppy, so I switched that out and the guide/tensioner dohickey since I had it down that far. got it all back together, ran good for a week then started acting up again. Changed radiators (the old one WAS nasty to look into), new upper and lower hoses, new fluid again- grumble grumble - and I also cut out the holes for the LeBaron heat extractors at this time right over the fan shroud. She ran PERFECT for 3 months to the day, then overheating within 7-10 minutes of driving (about 15-20 minute sitting at idle).

Again, no antifreeze has mixed with the oil, and I am going to do a compression test either today, or sometime soon, but for now she is staying parked.

I am totally stumped, can someone please advise me of something i may have missed.

 

Welcome. And thanks for including information we can actually go off instead of "My truck is overheating! What's wrong?!!!?!" with zero other details as so often happens in forums.

Gonna go with the super obvious here and assume you probably just didn't include it in your list or perhaps I missed it skimming through quick...radiator cap? I know you did the radiator but in my experience they don't come with new caps.

 

Hello tbugden,
I know what you mean, I'm also on Thesamba and bradleygt forums so I know how helpful information can be. And in answer to your idea, yes, 2 regular caps, and 3 pressure relief caps, forgot about those. I should also mention that the thermostat is one of the failsafe ones that allows flow even if it goes bad.

 

Another long shot, any chance you own an IR temp gun with which you can shoot the thermostat housing to determine actual coolant temperature? Reason I ask is because the gauges on these trucks aren't the most reliable things. It sounds like your gauge is not the problem if the pattern is consistent but it's good to rule it out. I thought my truck was overheating too after I installed a new temp sending unit, but it turned out it just reads higher now (really it read too low before), but the engine is still running at proper temp.

 

No, I don't have a temp gun, and the A/C pump bracket is in the way anyway.
the hoses are both pressureized and the overflow goes from between the full and low line to overflowing and spraying out the tube. There is no or very little air in the system after I've filled it and let idle with the cap off and funnel in place to top it off.

 

I got an IR point&shoot temp gauge at Home Despot for <$20
I had broken studs on my exhaust both sides and fixing them also improved the cooling as well as putting in a 180 thermostat. I also put in a new exhaust all the way back at the same time. Now I can use the AC in summer w/o getting the motor too hot.
Edit- Do you have the heater on high and fan blowing when you fill it?

 

IR gun is definitely worth the investment...it helped me diagnose my cooling issue. Like you I changed everything under the sun. ..radiator, hoses, cap, thermostat, water pump....do the combustion test to rule out the head gasket. I did that too.

in the end mine turned out to be a defective thermostat right out of the box. It's frustrating when you replace something and it doesn't fix the problem....you think move on to the next culprit. All the while it's still the original issue. The only other thing I can think of that you didn't mention is shroud...is it in place? A missing shroud can dramatically affect temperatures.

 

And this is probably the most obvious question of all, suggested by tbugden's comment: How do you know it's overheating? Are you just relying on the temp gauge in the instrument cluster? I mean, if there aren't any operational symptoms of overheating, perhaps it's actually at correct operating temp and the sender and/or gauge are out of wonk. Brings us back to the suggestion that you find a spot to shoot with the IR gun.

 

The antifreeze is boiling over in the overflow jug, blowing out the tube at the top, spraying all over the engine, up the edges of the hood, and threw the heat extractors all over my windshield. So I'm quite sure the gauge is working properly and I am overheating. Happens both with the heat off and with the heat on. I do have the heat on when I let it idle while filling with coolant to purge out any air that may be in that part of the system. Once I can get my hands on a temp gun, I'll check it out with that. Still have not had a chance to check the cylinder pressure, my brother has 5 motercycles in my polebarn, and my neighbor calls the cops whenever I do anything outside. Including changing the air filter in my Impala. So I'm waiting impatiently in the meantime.

 

Thank you for all for the input and ideas, and yes I do have the fanshroud on. I'll most likely get a new thermostat and temp gun when I finish the cylinder pressure check, but again I have to wait for that until these motorcycles get moved out of my polebarn (he locked the steering on them).