Hey guys, im new to the forum, and am having a problem with my brothers truck, 01' dakota v6 . Truck had overheating/heat problems, water pump was changed, thermostat, heater core was fushed both ways (hoses are correctly mounted), and air was bled from system. After all this i ran the truck for a half hour, did not over heat, and blew hot air. My brother ran the truck yesterday, did not have heat, and was leaking coolent. The truck has like a mind of its own. I stopped, and talked to a mechanic i know, and he had told me he thinks the head gaskets are blown, but the oil seems good with no antifreeze in it. Any thoughts, ideas, or anything that would help my situation would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance! Drew

 

You will have to give us more info like where's the coolent leak coming from and are your heater/radiator hoses heating up? Sounds like you might still have a air bubble in the system. I don't know if the mech was a friend or just somebody you know but if there's no antifreeze in your oil it sounds like he was just trying to make some extra Xmas money. Check those hoses and get back to us.

 

I agree with dakotajim about the mechanic wanting Christmas money. If you had blown head gaskets you would be getting a random engine misfire code and blowing an unusual amount of moisture out the tailpipe. That is what my 5.2 did when it blew the gasket.
Charlie

 

I also agree with DakotaJim. Sounds like you have air trapped in the coolant system. Park the truck with the front end on a slight incline. With the engine cold, remove the radiator cap, start the engine, let it idle and come up to operating temp. If there's trapped air in the system, you'll see it bubble out at the radiator cap. As it bubbles out, keep adding coolant until you have no more air bubbles and the system is full and then replace the radiator cap. This may take a little time to get all the air out so be patient. Also make sure the coolant reservoir is full. Good luck!

 

Hey guys, I have a update. I started the truck yesterday, let it run for about a half hour, temp. guage was reading normal (in the middle), was not over-heating, but no heat at all. The upper radiator hose was hot, the heater hose going to the intake was hot but the hose going to the pump was not. Thanks, Drew

 

clogged heater core????

 

+1

If only one heater hose is hot then either the heater core is plugged again or the core is shot and you need a new one. Maybe try flushing it out again and see how it does after that.

Jimmy

 

After i dig the truck out over the weekend here is what im planning on doing. I want to see if i have the over-heating problem solved first, than im going to move on to the heat problem. Im going to take off both heater core hoses, make sure they are clean, and flush the core out both ways. Isn't is just weriod that sometimes the heat works? I'll let you know guys, thanks again. Drew