Have a great 00 4.7 Dakota with 107K.

Normally runs at 210 on gauge, plus or minus. Recently started to run about 1/2 way between 210 and red zone at highway speeds and AC on in hot weather. If I turn off the air and run the heater (no fun!) it cools down pretty quick to just above 210.

When I remove the pressure cap with a cool engine, the coolant is full in the upper hose.

There are no coolant leaks.

I've heard the electric fan go on at just over 210, so I think that's OK.

The engine-driven fan seems to pull a lot of hot air from the radiator and the fan 'whooshes' as it always has when I first hit the road with a cool engine. Otherwise I'm not sure how to check this further.

I changed the thermostat and it made no difference. The old thermostat had quite a bit of white deposit on the inlet side. Looks like mineral lime, like in an old teapot.

I'm thinking the radiator is fouled with this stuff. When I changed the thermostat, I tried draining the radiator with the drain fitting; pulled the little hose down and turned the flat out 1/4 turn but absolutely nothing drained out. I had to get the coolant out by removing the thermostat housing. The coolant didn't look bad at all.

The radiator looks a little skimpy in terms of frontal area and only has two rows of tubes. It looks like there's space for three rows.

Anyone have any experience with your Dakota running hot?

How hard is it to replace the radiator?

Can I get a better radiator than stock?

 

been away from here for awhile...but I have been having issues with mine running a bit hot during the hotter days of the summer. I also have a 2000 4.7. I havent really paid much attention to it since once on the highway and away from stoplights and traffic it always seems to cool back down. The best I can figure is that the radiator is filling up with sludge, I just dont have the time to deal with it right now. I have been thinking about adding a better electric fan on the radiator...that might help

 

Thanks for the reply. Hard to believe only one reply to this in the midst of a hot summer.

I spent yesterday afternoon putting a new radiator. I bought one from Dodge cause it was cheaper that auto parts stores!

Tried to get a thicker radiator. The original only has one row of tubes! For a truck! The Dodge parts man looked a long time and found a 'super-cool kit' with a different radiator and a different fan clutch. But there was only one in the nation at a Dodge dealer in MO, but that dealer did not have it in inventory after all. The parts man said there is an alternative radiator that supposedly has a larger trans cooler inside but he wasn't sure if that radiator would fit, it was a special order, and so they wouldn't take it back if it didn't fit. Pretty disappointing all in all to have a V-8 truck with a Kia (killed in action?) radiator. So I ended up witht the stock radiator.

The old radiator had more of the white deposit inside (like the old thermostat) but it didn't look major. Those tubes are very thin though and it wouldn't take much to restrict them. Again, if the radiator would have been thicker, there's room for two rows of tubes, this minor loss of flow wouldn't have even been noticed.

Oh, and the radiator drain was not plugged as I thought. It feels like it detents at 1/4 turn but that is not enough to let it drain out. You've got to turn it out farther, but it's hard to access.

I'd suggest all of us Dakota owners change coolant every two years and mix the coolant with distilled or dionized water instead of tap water. Also watch out for bugs, leaves, grit and snow-bent fins on the AC condenser that's so close to the grille and bumper openings

My Dakota ran fine last night, but I'll let you know how it goes after more miles at highway speeds with the AC on.

 

I'm surprised by how few have similar hot running questions/replies during tehis hot summer.

Anyway, the new radiator(stock configuration, bought from Mopar) is a success. The hot running (but not overheating to the red) is resolved, the truck runs a definite way under the 210 mark on the gauge now, with AC on or off.

I'm happy the problem is solved but surprised it's solved as the original radiator does not look bad, inside or out!

 

I'm having the EXACT same problem you had.......
I've changed out the fan clutch, the temp sensor, and the temp gauge....I guess a new radiator is next

 

I have had the same exact problem as well. I've changed out the thermostat, the tem guage, the water pump, the fan clutch AND a brand new radiator a few days ago, and it's much worse than before. I'm clueless, and so are the mechanics that i've taken the truck to. Also, i'm not convinced that the coolant is circulating much, even after the new water pump, radiator, and thermostat. I'm about to give up!

 

I have this problem, but only AFTER I tried to flush my radiator fluid. Interesting that when I drain from the drain plug/petcock on the lower part of radiator, the coolant reservoir doesn't go down whatsoever....this is my post on another forum:

After about 50k miles, I decided to give it a go to flush my radiator fluid. Figured I would use a radiator flush (I bought a Prestone radiator flush). Anyhow, removed the petcock on the lower driver's side of the radiator, drained fluid, noticed that coolant in reservoir tank didn't go down much. Undid the bleed bolt and loosened radiator cap, topped off the reservoir with 50/50 mix. Went for a drive, turned on heater full blast. Temp gauge went to max after about 10 min., checked coolant level in reservoir tank, it was full. thought maybe I got air into the system, so undid bleed bolt and let some air out, but coolant level still full. visually checked all hoses to make sure no kinks, and didn't see any. Any thoughts or ideas? some radiator fluid seems to be coming out from the radiator cap, could this be bad part? Any hellp appreciated, I'm a noob at this stuff

Anyone have this problem? I'd hate to change the radiator...

 

Hey Fellas,

I just bought a 2000 Dakota 4.7L 4x4. I am having pretty much the exact same issues with the truck running hot, but never really overheating. This mostly occurs on relatively humid, 90º+ summer days. I have had the clutch fan and the thermostat replaced. I have had a mechanic I have known for a long time check out the coolant, radiatior and water pump to ensure no leaks, deposits, or clogs were there. The electric fan kicks in when it should. Everything else checked out and the coolant is clean, so I am a little puzzled. From what I have read on this post and other ones with a similar topic, it seems that a new radiator is the answer. Has anyone done anything differently to solve the problem?

Other than this heating issue, the truck is in great shape.

 

I’ve also the same problem you had, I think I need to take my truck to an automotive shop to check if what is going wrong with my Dodge Dakota parts.

 

I think it's your mixture or a clog somewhere.... Flush your system for a good 2 hours... I did that once no problems since! Higher the mixter colder or hoter, tell me what your mix is like -47? -37.7?