I am the original owner of a 2000 Dodge Dakota quad cab 3.9 and I love my truck. I had new heads put on about a year-and-a-half ago and since then things just don't seem right. Those of you who are familiar with this engine know that the pressure cap is on the hose that goes from the reservoir to the engine I will open that and that hose will be completely dry but the reservoir seems to be completely full I have not driven it in about a year however I want to get this right. Because I love my truck when it was first repaired I had to add antifreeze to that hose and physically squeeze it to get antifreeze to the engine I just went down to check it and that hose is dry but the reservoir is full am I overthinking something here and it's okay or shouldn't there be antifreeze always in that hose.? Someone please help me this is driving me crazy

 

So if your engine looks like this one, the upper radiator hose goes to the top of the radiator. The small hose goes to the overflow. The small hose will only have coolant in it when coolant is flowing due to positive pressure into the overflow when hot, or negative pressure when cold, which means the flow is reversed back into the engine. You should see coolant at the neck in the big hose when you open the cap. This is what you really need to worry about. Not so much what is in the overflow, although that can be an indicator. If all this not working, change the radiator cap, or check the small hose for leaks, or the entire system for leaks.

 

Couple things -

Need the proper cap that allows a vacuum to pull fluid in. Most caps are 1 way, our trucks need a 2-way cap

Pull the thermostat and drill two or three 1/16 or 1/8 " holes in it. These will allow steam pockets to vent into the upper hose and make the system much easier to bleed.

 

Yes that is what the engine looks like. Even the color of the truck 😂 there is no coolant in that hose when I take the cap off when it's cold. It was suggested to me to get a new cap and I did. I got what was recommended. I'm trying to do this myself and learn and this is appreciated. I will take a pic and put it on here. I'm learning this site also. The small hose is tbe original and I have tried to get it off with no success

 

This is thr cap

It is dry so does that look like the right cap in the photo above. I hate getting parts because most of the time (as being a women) i feel they would just sell me anything. Idk if that true but...and the small hose is not the original sorry about that. It is newer

 

If you add coolant there, does it all just disappear? Or will it stay there for a bit, and then be gone the next time you look?