Engine in my Dad's '99 Dak 2.5 & 5 speed ran hot & blew head gasket Aug '14. Had it replaced and head reworked Oct'14. Blew again Jan'15. I'm done with it and just gonna pull it and drop in a reman. Any advice on what else I should replace while I've got it out. It has 125k.

 

Your first priority should be what is causing the overheating problem.

My 2.5 got very close to overheating a number of times because it has no mechanical cooling only an efan or electric fan these don't turn on as soon as they should. I have moved to AZ now an never had the same problem why you ask I'm no longer stuck in city stop and go traffic or stuck on the freeway during bumper to bumper traffic. In traffic you have no air moving past your radiator to cool it down.

To make the efan turn on manually turn on your A/C this forces the efan to kick in ASAP.

I'm currently looking to put a switch in my dash that will kick in the efan as I need it.

I'm not too sure many 2.5 Dakota owners understand this problem or what is causing the overheating the efan only turns on at 210 that's just to hot.

I was lucky I saw 210 or higher a number of times with no problems but I did blow up 3 radiators the first 4 years I owned it as I drove through bad traffic almost daily. I used to start freaking out if the traffic didn't start moving on and off to cool down the engine as I watched the temp gauge shooting up ASAP.

 

You may want to start looking at replacing your efan ASAP as they don't make replacements now that I know of you can try to install a pre 97 Dakota 2.5 fan as it looks the same just a different power connector. I'm just upgrading to a 2000 2.5 fan and rad setup it changed radically in 2000 some info that may help.


LINK


97 to 99 fan



2000 to 2002 fan as that's the year the 2.5 was discontinued

 

Thanks, already decided to replace the factory e-fan with an aftermarket and adj temp controller. Anyone know if there is a replacement t-stat neck that would allow a delete on the upper rad hose with that high bend that looks to me could allow an air bubble to hang in the hose? It looks designed for a mechanical fan where there isn't one.

 

Additional: which is easier/more efficient; leaving the tran in the truck or pulling the eng and tran as a whole? I plan to replace the clutch, throwout bearing, etc while it's out/apart. It's a 5 spd

 

Dakota 2.5 only came with an efan as a mechanical fan would suck to much Hp from the 2.5 you don't want a mechanical fan.

 

an air bubble to hang in the hose is an interesting thought but I don't think I have ever had a problem with that but looking at it I can see why it could happen. But I have never seen an alternative. I think as the system creates a vacuum from cooling and heating up the rad cap with the overflow tank removes any air in the system just be sure you have a good working cap.

Online OEM parts places used to show a replacement for the OEM fan for a 97 to 99 2.5 but at a whopping $350 what a joke.

On removing the engine with the trans I don't know what way is better.

I always just ran my engine rad cap off till I saw coolant movement and let any air come out before I closed the system up with every coolant replacement.