On my trip last weekend we had to leave the heater on full blast to try and keep it cool, even then we had to stop twice from it getting too bad on the steep hills.

I noticed my trans cooler is pretty beat up and looks like its blocking air flow to the rad? The bottom of the rad is fairly beat but not that bad.

1) how hard is the trans cooler to change?
2) how hard is the rad to change on these trucks?

Anything else I should do first ?

 

What year, engine, and body style do you have Stealth? 2 or 4wd?

 

Oh sorry it's a 2003, 4.7L, 4x4, club cab

 

No worries.

As you look at your truck you'll see the transmission oil cooler, the a/c condenser, and the radiator is behind all that. Are you sure it is the radiator where you say it is "beat?"

Not all trucks have the external transmission oil cooler, it was an option. Most just use the radiator.

Hopefully someone chimes in as I don't have a transmission cooler.

How is the coolant level? When's the last time it was flushed out? How about the thermostat?

 

I thought it was a trans cooler in the front , a lot smaller than the rad is.

The coolant levels are good, it was flushed a few months ago. We have green coolant in it. I see some recommend special dodge coolant, but I doubt that would make it overheat this badly.

 

You may need a new Rad the inside passages can get clogged up over time.

I suggest a hard core flush and see what happens but a new Rad may be the only answer.

Some Rad shop can put a temp scanner on the Rad to see if it has cold and Hot spots this will tell them if the Rad has a few or more plugged passages

 

It may well be. As I said, it was an option so not all Dakota's have it - it came with the heavy duty cooling package or tow package.

How hot were you getting? Like '98 says, it can be a radiator problem.

 

I went home and checked , I do have 3 of them. Is the trans cooler larger than the ac? Whichever is the larger one in front of the rad is pretty beat up . Lots of dented fins. Going to get some pics up.

 

 

In the top pic, the more lower one, the one you can just see the top of and furthest out front, is the transmission cooler. It's the smallest.

The next is the a/c condenser, the one with the dented fins. Finally, closest to the engine, is the radiator.

Try washing all that crap out. You can get a fin brush to help straighten them out again - carefully. How's your fan clutch?