Hi, I bought my mildly used Dodge Durango in fall of 2008 - It currently has about 149k on it.

It's a 1998 Magnum 5.2 [i believe] 4X4.
For the past couple of days I thought I was smelling something burning when driving, but it was hard to tell because the area I live in has a lot of road construction and everything smells like its burning... which made this situation worse....

When I was driving home tonight the temperature gauge started to climb higher and higher. I pulled over to a gas station and discovered the "fabric" hood cover [for lack of other words] was starting to burn up (there's a big hole/ tear across it). Also the front of the inside of the engine was "splashed" with coolant everywhere. The actual engine had NO coolant at all in it. I waited a little over an hour and filled the radiator and resiviour with coolant from the gas station and noticed that it was leaking out of the engine towards the front of the truck on the drivers side - its a steady drip right onto the ground when idle/parked. I carefully drove it home from the gas station [about a 10-15 min drive].

I am a bad mechanics dream: I'm 100% girl with no male to go to the garage for her, new to the area - so I don't really know good mechanics from the bad, and just need the truck to work. I have a sinking feeling that I will be ripped off service wise. So with that being said... How much damage do you think I did to the truck? What probably needs replaced, and how much do you think it will cost me in the long run [price and time to repair]?

Please help and thank you in advance for your responses. Have a better night than mine....

 

if you did not overheat the engine its not going to be too bad, just some cooling system parts, is the drip coming from the resevoir hose, or from one of the hoses going to the radiator, it sounds to me like you just need to replace the hose thats leaking and it should be fine, but at the same time im not sure if it was leaking first, or if it started to heat up first

 

I think you should be fine if the motor isnt acting funny or stumbling. There is only a few places it could be coming from on the drivers side of the motor.

1. Heater core line.
2. Thermostat
3. Upper Radiator Hose
4. Radiator

Personally if the coolant is all over the motor then it would have had to come Pre-fan which means it sounds more like a radiator leak or hose leak. Ask a local person about a possible good shop to take it to so you dont wing it.

 

Take that fabric part off and throw it away. Not needed.

Rinse the motor down everywhere and very good. Dried out radiator fluid does a lot of harm on wire connections, etc.

Most likely the stat is leaking. Replacement is $10, gasket is $1, if you replace the upper hose at the same time it is $50. 50/50 Premix Prestone is $10 a gallon and you should buy 2 gallons. So $81 in parts and 1 hour in labor for $75 somewhere. $161-200 and you should be done at any shop. If they want more than that, leave and find another shop.

Add some of the coolant to your COLD radiator cap area now so you can drive safely around looking for a fair shop.

IndyDurango

 

Where are U located Preston1435. Maybe someone can make a recommendation for a decent shop.

 

LOL.....Read his handle and look in his Location.


Handle; Indy
Location: Indiana

Um.......Indianapolis

 

LOL, I think he meant the OP Preston.
Preston if you tell us your location, one of us may be able to advise you of a good shop in your area.

 

Really why would I want to know where IndyDurango is LOL

Maybe Preston can tell us location so we can rec a shop.

 

You expect me to read ALL the way back up there ^^^^ ?



Ya right!......

 

In defense of HS, that is why forum etiquette is to reply to the previous post OR quote an earlier post for reference then provide your reply. That eliminates confusion verses this.