Hello all....

new to forum, but have been scoping some threads for the past week.

I been wanting a Durango for years. Love the 1st gen, not so much the 2nd gen. So Tuesday 10/2, I finally purchased a 2001 Durango, with only 92k on it. Looks great, drives great. Had no issues until friday 10/5. Noticed a small coolant spot under the truck. Opened the hood, and saw coolant sprayed in a section of the engine compartment. At the bottom, i saw some puddling as well, which was dripping to the ground. I started the truck, and let it warmed up. No leaks. All the important areas were dry. Rev'd the engine for a little bit, still, no leaks. Temp is just fine on the lower side of normal. Drove for a little bit on Saturday. Same thing, splashing, no leaks. I checked the coolant dipstick, and noticed it's about 2" above the full marker. So i was thinking it was splashing out, but the overflow spout was dry. The rest of the day was fine.

Today, it was chilly out, turned the heat on, went to breakfast, got there, smelled coolant. Again, splashing. So I thought, it was only when heat was on. Turned on heat, kept truck running, rev'd, no leaks, overflow still above full. So when I was done, I drove around, no heat. No additional splashing. Turned heat on full blast, drove home, same, still no splashing.

So my question is, could it splash out from anywhere else? I added the pics of the areas I see the splatter of coolant.

 

Mine is a 5.9 as opposed to your 4.7 so the hoses may vary. However I would assume enough similarities to get you close.

The heater hose coming out of the firewall down to the water pump is where your leak is. That's the area so that has to be it. There is no other water there.

See my photo for the side that connects to the waterpump. Yours is a little different but the same place. Your hose runs a little higher than mine does too and runs along the top of the valve cover.

HTH,

IndyDurango

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Thanks for the response. I checked the area....dry

what is this connection right here?



The rim inside the hose was wet. And the felt underneath the hood is wet right above this area. I noticed the clamp was back a little from the edge, and the hose could have been more snug, so I just now loosed the clamp, coolant poured out, i snugged up the hose, and moved the clamp closer to the edge.

Is it possible that it only leaks when it reaches a certain pressure? I have been starring at this engine for a long time with the truck running, and under 3-4000 rpms to check for leaks.

 

That is the upper radiator hose. You have labeled as wet at the back of the previous photo. Those are two different places and items.

That hose doesn't have either of those clamps there like that from stock so it has obviously been tinkered with previously.

The upper radiator hose is known to fail around the plastic neck on both sides of the cap. Just replace the entire thing with a STOCK replacement only. Go to the dealer parts window and order a new upper radiator hose. Get some new clamps from them too. Under $100 TOTAL on the repair.

On your 4.7l, read up on the proper "burping" procedures to make sure you don't overheat after the coolant fillup needed from the hose swap.

Coolant = Prestone 50/50 premix is fine.

IndyD

 

I was guessing it was blowing out the hose at that connection, and blowing back as I drive.

I never saw a hose, with the radiator cap on it like this.

 

Yea the hose+radiator cap was added in 2000 thru 2003. Not a fan but that is what we are stuck with since there is no cap on the radiator. The plastic "welds" around the cap neck where it extends into the hose fails over time. Should be a 75,000 mile replacement item.

Yours looks like the stocker spring clamps were replaced with hose clamps. Thus, someone has been messing with it previously.

Just replace the entire thing. Note: nothing works aftermarket because no one has a cap+plastic neck+hose-on-both-sides device. All they sell are the individual parts and you have to cut and make yours work with each individual part. Just get a stocker replacement and you are done. Plus, the stock unit has a nice reinforcement spring inside the hose that aids in keeping the hose from collapsing.

The upper hose is about $59, the clamps for both sides a few bucks more and a gallon of antifreeze which is more than you will need. All in all, like I said it will be less than $100 and less than an hours work.

Here is *my* story of my original failure when my initial hose blew out:
"(Mis)adventures of a blown hose" dateline 9/23/2005
http://www.durangoclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=40877

HTH,

IndyDurango