Newbie, help me out... I have a 2001 Dodge Durango 4 wheel drive, 5.9 V8. Yesterday, I smelled just a hint of coolant as I put the heat on, but saw no smoke and the temp was running normal. I drove probably 40 miles yesterday total, in several spots, including city and highway miles. Today, I get in the car and go to work. A 6 min drive, about 4 miles highway, and the other 2 city. When I pulled into work, smoke was coming from the hood, and the temp gauge said I was running hot. I popped the hood and the smoke was coming from the radiator and just a small amount of leakage. Could this just be a pinhole in the hoses? The therm could be bad? Are these coolant systems hard to flush? 140k miles

 

Repost this in the first generation Durango section as this is the general forum AKA no mans land,
FF

 

Posting in the middle subsections is no-mans-land. Try here: 1st Gen Durango


I'll move this for you.

 

If you are leaking, flushing and the thermostat are not really a concern yet. First thing you need to do is pinpoint the leak and go from there. THe easiest way I have found to find a leak in the cooling system is to get a tool to pressurize the system. It will hook onto the radiator cap, you can pump it up to a certain PSI, and you will hopefully be able to see where you are leaking from.

Once you find the leak, for sure replace that part. After that, I would personally replace the therm, hoses, and hose clamps with high quality hose clamps.

Depending on how bad you overheated will determine what other problems you have or might have in the future. I blew a hose on my magnum motor in the freezing cold, the temperature change was so drastic that I think it damaged my head gaskets just slightly. It ended up going 3 months later.