Okay I purchased the 2000 5.9L rango from my parents after watching it sit for 8 years. Unfortunately it is my only running vehicle at the moment so replacing parts is becoming daily life it seems.
first question- is the suppose to be an o-ring on the coolant return tube from the water pump? Had to disconnect to replace power steering. Now it leaks coolant/water. Seems maybe there should be one.

Secondly. My coolant system had thick build up in it about three months after a radiator flush. I understand these things can make it worse or knock loose and build up in the system but it was WAY worse. I did the garden hose flush today and it seemed to clear most of it out but I'm wandering if it was normal I suppose. The color was grey and reminded me of the shavings that build up in the rear diff. Any info would be useful.
I drove it today after replacing the power steering pump, res.,and pulley (the whole assembly). I overheated after one mile. I'm not losing coolant except the little bit around the cap when it's steaming like crazy. I did notice when I got back to the house carefully and restarted it that the electiric radiator fan doesn't seem to be working. So i ordered that today and hope that is the problem. I know I should check the electrical wiring first but I neither own a multimeter or understand electricity and these things. Any help is appreciated even just an opinion.

My drive belt is worn but still seems to be operating fine.
It was being thrown off the pulleys a few days ago because of my power steering pulley bearing were out. Never had an overheating issue before this.
Water pump is fine no leaks spins fine.
Any help is appreciated.

 

First did you pull the heater bypass tube out of the water pump itself? The electric fan is suppose to come on at 210 degrees or when ever the A/C is requested. Dose the fan roar when you start it up cold in the morning? If not it could be a bad fan clutch or a stuck thermostat. When it's over heating are both the upper and lower hoses equally hot? Is the core of the radiator hot as well? You can check the electric fan by pulling the relay out and jumping the 2 larger terminals with a piece of wire. Read this and give some answers and I can probably point you in the right direction. Nick

 

Yes I did pull it out. I had to get access to the bolt for the p/s mounting bracket. This Durango has no heat or a/c they have been bypassed I guess. Meaning hoses were cut and some other **** I guess to get around fixing it Idk can post pics if needed tomorrow. This was before I owned it. the clutch fan is brand new also and operating fine.
I assume the roaring you mean the clutch fan. Yes it still sounds the same as always when it starts but like I said that is new already.
thank you for helping! I'll wait for any responses.

So with two wires I can remove the relay and use the wires against the battery and the relay inputs to see if the fan works?

 

So the hoses for the heater core are looped together? The tube in the water pump should be sealed with rtv gasket maker or something if you pulled it out. That will fix your leak. I'm not sure there's an o-ring per-say but yes if you took it out you need to reseal it. Pull the electric fan relay out and look at the pins in the box. There is two small pins and two larger pins. If you jump the lager pins with a piece of wire the fan should come on if it's good. The smaller pins are the power/ground to close the relay. There's a few test you can run for that too but you said you don't own a volt meter to you can't do those. Your over heat problem is starting to sound like a stuck thermostat from sitting and/or age. Check how warm all the hoses and the radiator gets when it warms up. Let me know..... Nick

 

Okay. I replaced the electric fan and went ahead and replaced the thermostat which I had done once since I started driving it. I put the rtv gasket maker on the tube that was leaking and it fixed that problem but I'm am still overheating.
my top hose with the cap is super hot and the bottom hose is hot but not as hot as the top one. I do have straight water in it now which I know doesn't help but I figured it should work til I can drive to the auto parts store. Bit can't drive it. It takes about five minutes to warm up but then it just keeps getting hotter and hotter.
I really appreciate your help.

 

Ok I'm kind of at a loss...... it's starting to sound like something is clogged up somewhere. There has to be an inefficiency in the cooling system somewhere..... or the temp sending unit is not reading correctly. If both hoses are getting hot which they should, and the core of the radiator is getting hot it should be fine. You said you are noticing a temp drop from the upper hose to the lower hose so the radiator is doing something to cool the coolant. Have you felt the radiator core from the driver side to the passenger side to check and make sure the whole thing is evenly warm from one side to the other and top to bottom? What I'm getting at is you said this truck had been sitting for some time and I'm starting to wonder if the block is clogged or it pushed a bunch of crap thru the radiator and clogged it up. Let me know , Nick

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the radiator is clogged. And yes, there is supposed to be an oring on the metal pipe for the heater hose.

 

are you losing or "using" coolant?

 

It might be time to look at the water pump as well. The impeller may have separated from the shaft. First I would take an infrared thermometer and check your temp drop across the radiator from the hot side to the cold side. You should see about a 20-25 degree drop. You can also run across the fins and see if there are cold spots. That would indicate any plugged cores. Does your fan kick on at all when you start to overheat? Are you only checking the coolant level at the overflow or have you checked the level at the cap on the upper radiator hose. I've had my overflow plug up and show full and still have low coolant. Just some of my thoughts. Get back to us with those answers and we will have a better answer for you.