Those are normal temps you are seeing. It is what the engineers designed it to run at. I see average of 213* F when running on the highway. My electric fan wasn't working for a long time either and I ran, towed and sat in heavy traffic everyday for many years ... probably ran over 100,000 miles like that. With AC on and sitting, I was over 225* at times, so a slight overheat and I didn't really know it till I put a live data scanner on it. Just replaced the e-fan recently. I'm now over 325,000 miles and the engine is strong as usual. I also ran a chemical test on the block a few nights ago and it passed with flying colors. (last week a heater hose came loose and dumped out almost 2 gallons of coolant so I was bleeding the system anyway). My point is, the numbers you are seeing are not high, nor dangerous to the engine.

 

Thanks for the input on this matter, i was worried a little.
I do think this temperature isn't to high, specially as you and i both run it with these temps for a long time ( 3 years i've own it )

I do wan't to check my clutch fan, because i've never heard it coming on, not on a cold start and not when the electric fan kicks in at 210.

Thanks for the reply

 

The engineers that designed the motor had best intentions for sure, but look at the track record. Early 4.7's are prone to BHG's (blown head gasket) and the SLUDGE (stupidly large ugly dodge gooey engine <- sorry, could not resist) issue, now go look at what the later 4.7's are doing. Do the newer ones still have those 2 issues? Are they still running them at the 210+ deg temps? What would be really nice to know is what the MTBF (mean time between failures) is for the BHGs from the production years. Ideally you want to make revisions to fix some of the issues and the failures drop.

My position is to run it at a pretty consistent temp once I get it setup per my liking, somewhere in the 195~200* range. Data logged the motor last night and saw as high as 206* at idle, not comfortable with that.

So as I sit here something came to mind... The coolant temp ramp rate in the graph I showed earlier... I'm wondering now what that looks like for the 4.7. It seems to heat up pretty quick, I wonder if it might behoove me to slow that down a bit. Going to have to look at that before and after the t-stat swap.

 

Exactly what are you looking for when the clutch fan engages? It briefly engages upon cold start then disengages and free wheels until the temps climb. Sort of makes a roar, like a truck. To test... with engine off, spin hard by hand, it should be smooth with a little bit of resistance and stop quickly after only a few rotations. The clutch fan's level of engagement varies with engine temp (thermal control). The electric fan is binary in nature... on/off, controlled by a switch

 

I just checked the clutch fan, because i never heard it coming on my dodge.
I never heard it like you said on a cold start and i never heard it when on operation temp.

I just did what i always do normally by the oilchange, when the motor is cold, grab it, try to wiggle it and give it a spin.
Just like always it has no play on it and if i spin it it turns without drag, just with the normal resistance.

What i did do this time, i spin it like for 10 rotations and that's when it became very loose ?

Meaning after something like 10 spins full circle 360 it became loose/free spinning as it would turn over by itself probably 3 to 4 times ?
So it's start with the normal resistance and becomes free turning for about then full spins on it.
So now i'm wondering if i have a bad clutch or this is normal.

My e-fan is operating as i should, it only seems to become on very often, about every time i come in slow traffic and when stop, it's running or comes on right after.
It engages when i reach 210 as it should and because i'm at 205 on regular driving, means whenever i decrease speed and have less driving wind cooling it's creeping up to 210 and the e-fan kicks in.

 

Sounds like everything is working as should. You can replace the fan clutch if it makes you feel comfy but I suspect you won't see a change. You can always do it and return the part if nothing changes.

The youngest of these vehicles are now considered quite old. Do you think HGs failed due to bad design, or were there events with each of these engines that contributed to their demise? By design, they are more susceptible to damage from overheating but not when running normal temps. I'm pretty good about caring mine and I've overheated it to the point of boiling coolant on more than one occasion almost cooked my 4.7L, so I lean to the former.

"Are they still running them at 210+?" Hell yes... I haven't heard of any design changes that lowered the engine temps over the years Allpar - all about the 4.7 and I've seen plenty of threads with people with newer 4.7 running similar temps 2009 4.7, also plenty like this one with folks worried cause it might be "too high." Normal engine temps of most engines, regardless of brand is 195 to 220* F.

 

Thanks for the reply and reassurance.

The biggest problem i have is i live in the Netherlands, Europe. there are probably only a handful second gen Dakota's over here and maybe a dozen first gen Durango's.

Also, there are no Dealers who have parts in stock, so about every part has to be shipped in from the States.
It makes it very hard to maintain these old trucks when you don't have access to parts and like in my case it's my daily driver.
I'll always try to be ahead of problems before they accure, so when it does i have the right parts already shipped in.
This is why i spend a lot of time on the forum, to learn and see how and what parts need to be ordered.

 

On the filter, can't say. On your description, sounded like the old breather filters, For the Seafoam vs top engine cleaner, I suspect the GM stuff is quite a bit more potent than Seafoam. That stuff was 20 bucks a bottle last time I used it, when Seafoam was 3 bucks, and it had California style warnings before California did.

 

2nd oil change done... oil had 200 miles on it, came out pretty dark, 5w-30 in there now with another dose of the stiction eliminator

 

just got back from an extended 100ish drive, oil appears to be remaining clean. Early in the OCI yest but it is better comparatively against the previous oil which went approx 200 miles.

Oil pressure rock solid the entire time while on the hiway, dips as expected at low rpms.