I noticed the heat gauge was on hot so I stopped and checked under the hood. There was coolant everywhere and it was still spraying from somewhere near the bottom left of the engine. After a few minutes all the coolant was gone and it just sprayed a mist. Even the wheel well on the passenger side was covered in coolant. I couldnt pinpoint where it was spraying from. Could it be a water pump or line or is it something worse?

 

could be a coolant hose to the water pump I would check all of your hoses and add more coolant before you start the engine again.

 

yea looking at the car from the front there is a hose half way down the radiator, if thats not it the radiator could also have a leak. my 00 5.9 lasted until last year when i had to change it, what a PITA until i figured it all out, took less than 2hours to do once i did that. kep us updated on what you find.

 

could be one of the freeze plugs? just a guess. I had to replace one about a year ago. There are also drain screws on each side of my block at the bottom. Guess there to drain the block when you do a coolant flush. Mines a 1999 durango 4x4 so not sure if it would be the same

 

if the water pump has never been changed, its about due.... when the seal around the pulley shaft fails it can spray water everywhere. wash it all down with a water hose and let it dry, then crank it up and let it run and build up heat and pressure and see where its coming from. could be radiator, rad hose, wp, wp bypass hose, timing cover, thermostat cover, overflow tank, etc.

 

rynydr:

I would wash everything down, let it dry, and then visually inspect things first. The issue may be readily apparent.

If not, refill the system with water slowly and watch for leaks. No reason at this point to run the motor, and get things hot again.

After refilling, if there is no visible leak its time to fire it up and see where the water comes from. My bet is either you lost the lower hose, or that side of the radiator has given up the ghost. Could also be a WP as already stated.

In any case, you want to avoid any more overheating to mimimize any possibility of damage.

Don

 

OK the water is running from kind of an indentation in the engine. Its about an inch across and there is another one just like it on the other side of the engine. I think these are the freeze plugs. Only the one is leaking but I might change both since there is a decent amount of corrosion around them. Im also thinking about changing the serp belt while I have the rad support out. Has anyone taken there 5.9 to a dealer to have this done? And any info or advice on doing this myself would be great. Thanks guys!

 

Rynydr:

Forgot to mention the freeze plugs. It seems that Chrysler went cheap on these, and used plain old metal instead of the longer life brass plugs.

When was your cooling system serviced last??? I do mine every 30-40k, and this last time I went back in with Prestone amber GO-5 lifetime coolant. So far so good!!!

If I were you, I would replace all freeze plugs that are easy to get to, and then do a good flush and refill of the system.

The heater cores in our Durangos seem to croak at an alarming rate, and the repair runs $700-1200 bucks. Keeping the system clean and fresh is good insurance aganst that issue.

You will just have to cross your fingers that the rest of them hold up unless you want to spend the time/bucks to replace them all.

Don