Hey guys here's something I have never experienced or heard of for that matter, I was underheating on the way home!?!? I just installed a new 180* T-stat in my D a couple of weeks ago and tonight it was pretty chilly (60* or so) and I didn't grab my jacket because it was so nice this afternoon. Anyway Because I was freezing my ***** off I decided to not let my D warm up much and hopped in and took off so it would warm up faster while I was on the freeway which is 1/4 of a mile away. I hopped on and my D was taking forever to warm up then about 5 minutes into the ride it starts peeking above 130 I was like "Great I can turn on my heater soon!" well it went to about 140* and stayed there I was pretty annoyed so I went WOT from 75 mph to 110 mph real quick then let off and it poked up to maybe 150 and stayed there the rest of the way home until I got off the freeway. Once I was off and sitting at a light it started creeping up to 180. It was pointless to even turn on the heat because it was just blowing cold air on me. Has anyone heard of this because it is extremely annoying when you're in a cold truck and I can only imagine my gas mileage being horrible (more than normal ) from it being in a warm up mode... I guess i have to let it warm up for the 15 minutes it usually takes when it starts getting really cold. [:@]

 

Yup, that was the other reason why I had to put the stock t-stat back in my Durango (a little worse gas mileage was the other reason).
If you have some cardboard laying around you can make a shield to go infront of the radiator so it won't cool down as much, this will make the vehicle get up to temp faster. But you want to keep an eye on the temp to make sure it doesn't overheat, if it starts to overheat you know you have to make the shield smaller.
Cut the cardboard so that it lays over the hood latch mechanism above the radiator and bend it so that it slides right down in front of the rad, and you should get some warmer air.... but don't expect it to be as warm as when you had the stock t-stat in.

 

I have the 180 stat in mine and it gets to 180, even in the dead of the Indiana winter at zero degrees. I'd say you are low on coolant and I'd suggest looking straight down on the water neck to review for any leaking around your new stat.

When you get it working, at 180 you will be plenty warm enough.

IndyDurango

 

thats crazy I have a 160 tstat and it been as low as 45 here in the morning (when I get off workl about 6 am) and after just a few minutes my warm air is nice and warm. so I will have to check that out when the dead of winter sets in because I for sure now my girl wont want to ride in a my D if its frezzing ***** out side and I don't have geat seats or warm air.. maybe I will have to switch Tstats 160 for summer and the stock one for winter.. sounds like a plan. but good luck mean.. oh yeah about Gf I think I ment BF but then I again some nights I right on this So freeking late I am not sure what the hell right.. lol.. peace JP

 

Check to see if your heater core is plugged up. Even at 130*, it is more than warm enough to start heating your interior. This is the best way to check to see if your heater core is plugged up.

Warm up your Durango (where you start to see the thermostat move to at least around 130* or higher.)

Set your thermostat control to warmest setting, set it to floor heat mode, and set the fan on high.

Pop open your hood and find 2 heater hoses connecting to the firewall towards the driver side. The 2 hose connections will be next to each other at the firewall. The hose that runs directly to the water pump on will be your supply hose. This is the hose you want to feel with your hand. The temperature of this supply hose should be the same as the temperature of the top radiator hose. If both are pretty hot to the touch, your T-Stat is working fine. Then feel the return heater hose. If you feel a very noticable difference in temperature (return hose much cooler than supply hose), that is an indication your heater core is plugged up. This may also be a good warning sign to inspect your radiator as well and it may show signs of wear if the heater core is plugged.

If the flow of hot antifreeze flows fine thru the heater core and you still barely feel any heat, it may be the air vent baffle door not fully switching over from cool to heat mode so you are getting a mix of warm and cold air.

 

Well I was exaggererating on the cold air but it wasn't warm enough by any means to turn on until it started to go up to 160. I also am not going to do the cardboard for the simple fact that when I was idling this morning it hit 200. I was also thinking maybe the T-stat got stuck in the open position? It is a failsafe T-stat that locks open when it fails to slow overheating down quite a bit but I guess I need to researh the company that made it to see at what temp it is supposed to lock open at I have been up to 210 with this thing when it was still warm outside with a failing fan clutch. It also has a bleeder hole in it so I am almost 100% that I got all the air out of the system. I did have a leak right after I installed the new T-stat at the heater hose (I didn't get the clamp on it right when I moved it out of the way some and I guess it slipped off a little but that is all taken care of). How much coolant do our stock systems hold roughly? I fit 1 1/2-2 gallons in it. I don't really recall because of the leak I had right after install but I'm glad I always keep extra coolant in my D. Oh and JP I just like poking fun at you, I don't know why I just do , but I knew what tires you were talking about and if you get those BFG's you won't regret it these things are great and in the rain it's like night and day vs. the stock goodyears [:'(].

 

I have been a BFG tire fan for more than 10 years. My Ex toyota 4WD had the 31 inch BFG all terrains and man, I think I got like over 60-70k on them and those tires went thur hell and back. Now I have the BFG Comp T/A's on my R/T. Unfortunately, these will be my last set of BFG's as I found out BFG does not make a performance tire for a 275x60x17 anymore. I can only get their SUV Truck tire. Kinda looks like all season to me. I'll have to settle for another brand and will go to a wider 285x60x17 (max width for stock rim R/T) for better surface contact and stability.

 

BFG doesn't make performance street tires?!?! What are they thinking? They're missing a big market out there. If I wanted to make my D a street truck I would want BFG's, their quality has really impressed me and their price isn't all that ridiculous considering I only spent $100 more than I would have for some no name tire with lousy performance. (I got 5 tires)

 

They still make performance tires, just not one in the Durango R/T's tire (275x60x17) size!! Really pissed me off as I have about another 10k-15k to go before I need some new tires. When I had my '85 shelby charger with those Goodyear gators, and then I hit a pothole, I found it that single gator tire will cost me $300. After some digging and researching back in the 80's, I found BFG made 2 types of tires for my shelby. A euro TA and a comp TA. difference between the two is the Euro T/A was HR rated and has a 40k life rating and the Comp T/A was a Z rating with a 30k life rating. The price for the Euro was $115 each and the Comp ran $200. I chose the Euro as I was a college student and had a very low budget. Since then, I never went to any other brand tire, those BFG's compared to the Gators, the ride handling was much different. Granted, it did not hold up as tight as the gators when cornering and such because of the HR rating, the ride was many times more quiet and smoother ride.

Later, I bought a Toyota 4WD truck and got rid of the Goodyears Wranglers and got BFG all terrains. Tires lasted forever. Went thru two sets of BFG's in the lifetime of that truck. Put over 170k miles combined on both of those sets of tires.

Now I own a Durango R/T and got rid of my Goodyears with BFG comp T/A HR rating tires. I bought these from Discount tire. On my last tire rotation and balance and riding into 42k miles on my present BFG tires, I check with them to see if I can still buy these tires. Unforunately BFG no longer carries the Comp T/A line and that particular size as well. They have a new performance name now and still do not carry that tire size. The only BFG they have in my R/T size is the Truck T/A. Tire looks just like a regular truck tire in wide width so I am not going to buy that.

They did find another brand, I cannot remember to save my life, it was maybe gooks or something or may have been Yokohamas, and they have a slightly wider tire that will fit on the R/T. 285x60x17. Price is about the same as what I paid for my BFG's at $143 ea.

 

Well that stinks. I have heard pretty good things about yokohamas but IDK anything about them. As for my underheating issue I checked my coolant level and it was right on the mark so I guess I will be looking into the t-stat to see if it locked open or something...