I noticed the Electric fan assist when the car was turned off. Is there a way to determine if this fan is working without turning the Durango on? It's smaller thanthe fan clutch and while the fan clutch is on, it's very difficult to see of the Electric fan assist is working. With this information I can talk atbit more educatedly at the dealership.

Thanks so much for all your help.

 

If it is very hot outside, you can burn a gallon or two of gas and let it idle for a good long while. Eventually the fan should kick in on/off to help regulate the temperature of your engine. Better yet, turn on your A/C, the electic fan will immediately come on. If this does not happen when you turn on the A/C, you should check the relays, fuse, wiring, and lastly if the electric fan itself is fried.

 

I will try these suggestions over the weekend. The worse that could happend is that I end up at the dealer but better informed. The best case is that one of these suggestions saves me a couple of hundred dollars.

Thanks for all you help.

 

Well as the story goes... I went to my local car wash and pressure washed the A/C and Radiator coil. I figured it was the same theory as the home A/C so I placed the stream of waterin the direction the grill traveled (not accross). I also wanted to check the level of anti-freeze. This is where I almost panicked. I was guided by what I remember of my old Chevy and lifted the cap where the radiator car would have been on the Chevy. When I did that I pulled a dip stick out and it was way past add. I could actually see bottom. (I should have know then the radiator cap would be tightly screwed on and not just a flip cap!)After explaining the layout to a friend. He explained that that was the reservoir. In any event the reservoir was empty so I added antifreeze in the reservoir. Long story short... the problem is still present. One pattern that I have noticed. First, since adding anti-freeze to the reservoir the durango doesn't go to the middle of the temperature gauge right away andthe A/C cools better. The pattern that has emerged is that if the Durango's temparature needed (red) is at the left of the background thermometer drawing (white) the high revving is not present. When It's past this drawing (to the right in the direction of overheating) the high revving starts. Which occurs when I'm in traffic in the afternoon. When traffic starts to break-up and I can drive faster the needle moves to the left of the thermostat drawing and the high revving stops. This is really fustrating !

 

Hmmm, first things first, when your D cools down, pop up the thermostat, then start the D and add more antifreeze if neccessary. Then squeeze the radiator hoses to help bleed out the air. This can cause your temp guage to bounce around. Also, did you check your clutch to see if it is bad? As I stated earlier in this post, which your engine not running. try to spin the fan (one that is connected to engine). If the fan only moves like 1/4 to 1/2 a turn when you try to spin it, the clutch on the fan is good, if you can get it to turn full circle or more, the clutch is toast. Thus, may be reason why your D seems to get hot idling, but seems to cool off when your D is moving along.

 

I just went out and both D's fans turn and turn in either direction. (This is the fan that you feel immediately when you put your hand behind the plastic guard that says "CAUTION FAN". The level on the dip stick in the radiator reservoir for both D's says full. I took the radiator cap off my D and the antifreeze level was full. I started the D and the antifreeze level never went down in fact it started to overflow. All this time, about 3 to 5 minutes, the indicator inside never went past the first marker (white line) on the left to right (i guess this is the 1/4 indicator).

 

DBagnew,

You said the fan turn and turn? But how much did it turn? when you tried to turn the fan, did you try to use alot of force or just little force? that is another indicator if the clutch on the fan is good or bad, if you have to use alot of force to turn the fan, the clutch is good, if you use little force to easily turn the fan, the clutch is going out.

 

No force at all was used to move the fan. It was very easy.

 

little or no force to easily turn the fan means your clutch is toast. Replace the fan clutch on your and I almost garuantee it won't overheat anymore. But the side effect to having a new clutch installed, you may hear excessive fan roar which by design is suppose to behave. it'll roar until the clutch gets nice and warm and then dis-engage to quiet down the fan.

 

I was able to take time and with the right angle from Sun light I was able to tell that both electric fan assist in both D's doesn't turn. I left both cars run for about 10 minutes. I started and stopped the A/C every 2 1/2 minutes to see if this have an effect but no. To top this crisis off my wife called to tell me that the car was sputtering on the way home. It's good to be alive I tested the moving of the clutch fans by hand and they move in both directions, full circle, pretty easily.

Once again thanks for all you help.