Last May/June '09, the filler neck on my '00 disintegrated. Some of the plastic chunks went into the coolant res but were small pieces that couldn't be picked out, etc. Replaced filler neck, thermostat & gasket as well as had the coolant flushed via hose shortly after. SUV was fine until December when it started doing that again in NJ. Found another reservoir, replaced that, and it was fine until just recently. Earlier this month I was driving and the temp gauge went into the red. Pulled over and heard the gurgling/bubbling sound - which is the SAME sound it did ever since the plastic chunks got in there last year. Later that evening or next day, I replaced the thermostat and it was fine. Today started a funny smell and I took it to get a quickie oil change since I need one anyway. They, too, heard the gurgling and said that THEY THOUGHT the coolant res was boiling due to overheating. I explained that I'm PRETTY sure it's from the plastic chunks from last year & the radiator, etc. I could hear the gurgling BUT temp gauge inside the suv was not even at the middle. After this next Friday, I will be Durango-less as I'm downsizing to a car BUT I'd like to [hopefully not spend much $] fix this if it's something minor for the new owners.

It looks like, on ranking of cheapest options first, I should "burp" the coolant reservoir/line with a hose to rid of any air bubbles. Then would be to possibly replace the radiator cap as I didn't replace that last year along with the filler neck. From there, it looks like maybe a radiator replacement is needed? To make a worse case even worse, I'm pretty close to being broke (hence downgrading to something fuel efficient) but am open to suggestions. Thanks for your time!

 

Take it in for a reverse flush and clean that system out!

 

Thanks, any idea if that's pricey? Can I do it myself? Do you think taking the reservoir off and checking for plastic chunks [not in the reservoir but maybe in receiving hoses or something] would help? (Or taking the radiator off and checking it?) Like I said it WAS fine for a while... I think I'll try burping it first to see if that will do anything. Earlier this month when I replaced the thermostat, APPARENTLY *cough* SOMEONE *cough* forgot to make sure the pressure release cap was properly tightened and that had sprayed the water onto engine components and made the closest belt squeal. A guy "burped" the coolant/water (we use water mostly in FL) and the gurgling stopped, etc. until just recently. I think in terms of cheapest options first I'll try the hose method. As I mentioned, I'm SEVERELY downgrading (to an '01 Focus ) on Friday but I just want to try to fix this as cheaply as possible. Thanks for your time & input!

 

Drain the radiator and take off the hoses. Spray the radiator out with water and remove the T-stat and back flush with the house hose on full blast. Get as much plastic out as you can. Disconnect the reservior hose and spray out the hose and clean out the reservior. Connect the heater core hose and spray out the heater core back and forth between hoses.

Put it back together and fill with at least 1 gallon of coolant and water (perferably distilled water but if your selling it who cares.....lol)

 

Thanks a bunch and lol! I was trying to burp it earlier but, as dumb as this may sound, I could get the pressure release cap off? I've never had that problem before but it just wouldn't budge when I loosened it to take off.