ok my 2000 dodge Dakota qc with the 5.9 has started to recently heat up. I noticed my radiator cap was bad so I put a new one on, still heated up. put a new thermostat in I believe its 192. its still heating up, not bad but its running around 210 and a little higher, never ran that hot before. another thing is when I stop and shut the truck off you can hear the coolant bubbleing in the tank. im going to replace the tstat again with a 180. a buddy said it might be my water pump going out. any help?

 

my fan is working, electric fan don't come on though. I think it only comes on when you turn the ac on? my ac quit though so idk.

 

Have you done a good system flush that may help if not it could be the fan or old water pump make sure the fan is working

 

i ran water one day when i was out in the middle of nowhere, i drained the radiator of it all and put in good antifreeze. im starting to think its my electric fan.

 

My 5.2 has been running hot, too. I don't think it's the electric fan, tho. It's been getting hot out on the freeway--weather temp has been 100+.

I did a tune up today, and reset the fuel timing (96 5.2, automatic, 4wd.) and put a heavy duty trans cooler on. Tomorrow a new 2 row radiator is coming--I think the problem is the old radiator isn't cooling enough.

I think, when all else fails Dakota5.9, it all "boils" down to having the best, newest, most up to date radiator you can afford, and using the correct 50/50 coolant (use distilled water, btw.)

For emissions reasons, I wouldn't use a 180F thermostat. Get the friggin thing sorted out, tho. This can kill your engine (and transmission.)