All I replaced was thermostat, thermostat housing and bypass hose. $18 and an hour or so of time. Leak fixed.

 

Are u seeing any coolent on the ground when it is park?? How bout the heating coil ?? Is the inside floor boards wet ???

 

There is no coolant on the floor boards. When the engine is run there does not seem to be any leak. Once the engine is shut off the dripping starts onto the ground.

I also checked the fan and there is no play - should I take the belt off to check for play? If not I am going to put the reservoir back on and run it again to see if I can see the leak coming from that hose above the water pump... I will report what I find.
Thanks for all the help!
Clarehills

 

Finally got a chance to look at this again. I put everything back together (had taken out the reservoir to get a better look at the water pump), filled the radiator and over flow with water and started it up.... And... no leak! I have no idea why it is not leaking all of a sudden - perhaps a bit of dirt got dislodged and has covered up whatever hole there is?

I ran it for 30 minutes or so, temperature goes up to normal operating levels, comes down a bit and then goes up to normal again. Drove it a few miles, still no leaks visible. However, I did notice a small puff of vapor coming through the vent in the center of the dash - it was small and only after driving for 7 or 8 miles - perhaps the heater core is going out?

Thanks,
Clarehills

 

Having read how time consuming it is to replace the Heater Core I think I will opt to bypass it (I live in San Diego )

Has anyone here done this? Can I use any of the existing hoses to affect the bypass or is there a hose I need to buy to get this done.. I did this on another car years ago and remember finding it difficult to get a hose that fit just right...
Thanks,
Clarehills

 

In theory you could cut both inlet and outlet hoses and join them together in the engine bay. The flow of coolant will now bypass the heater core. Plug both hoses to the heater core. Local auto parts stores carry plastic heater hose connectors that have the same outside diameter and ones that have a different diameter on each end. When and if you decide to replace the heater core you simply reconnect the hoses to the original configuration. Haven't done this to a durango but on a 94 continental and 98 navigator with no problems other than no heat.

 

This should fix your problem and just bypass the heater core. Its usually the same on almost any vehicle.

 

Excellent! - I will get one of those and let ye know how I get on,
Clarehills

 

+2

Should be no issue at all.

As for the water pump, there is a weep hole built into the seal on the bottom of the main shaft that goes into it from the fan. The recessed hole is in fact there to aid in knowing the seal and or bearing is starting to go out and therefore the pump needs to be replaced. See without any warning the bearing could fail and the fan brake off and go through the hood, or downward, or worse into somebody. This is why the weep area "hole" is built into every pump that I know of.

You might not be able to see it, but it's there. Some have it in the case while others have it on the seal.

 

So how do you get to that bypass hose? Do you have to pull the A/C compressor and the waterpump? I believe that is where I have a leak also and have already replaced the waterpump thinking it was a blown waterpump gasket.