Yea philly water is nasty! But bottled water costs so much down there.

 

Don't buy "drinking water" or "spring water". Get "distilled water". You should be able to get it in the grocery store or wal-mart by the gallon. Don't buy the 0.5 L bottles; you'll go broke. The pre-dilluted anti-freeze may be cheaper but I doubt it.

 

Nah dude I didn't mean to fill up the rad I ment when I have gone in to philly.

 

LOL. There are some towns in Texas that have aweful water and not just because of the minerals.

 

I changed the t-stat and the coolant and it reached 250 (based on my cluster) on my way home. I mean it was ready to redline. I am bummed out, actually thinking it would fix it. Any other suggestions? I am thinking it coul be the sensor that reads the temp to my cluster.

 

the only way to rule out a sensor is to get someone to hook a scan tool on it, such as the snap on MODIS, and view what the pcm is seeing, and at the same time you can have them check the timing...

or you could try and replace the radiator, and see if that helps any...

 

Wouldn't bad O2 sensors mess with the timing? Figuring that i've seen O2 sensors being the most neglected sensor. My truck has 156k and they are probably the originals since the shocks and steering stabilizer bar shock were still on the truck when I got it.

 

Did you flush it or just change the coolant?
What was the condition of the old coolant? Dirty? Chunks?
Did you run it without the thermostat? Did it get that hot?
Do you have any leaks?
Did you "burp" the system?
Dumb question but have to ask--are you sure you put the thermostat in with the right end up?

If you did the flush that should have cleaned up the sensor but it could still be bad. If the coolant wasn't in too bad of shape, I would rule out a bad radiator and clogged coolant channels, at least intially. If you didn't burp the air out of the system, it will run hot.

Maybe I'm thinking about it too simply but assuming none of the abve are issues, either it's not that hot and you are getting a fualty reading or it is that hot and it's not cooling properly. Like 004x4 mentioned, best bet is to have it checked with a scanner. Do auto parts store lend then out or does your friend with the shop have one? I'm not a big fan of swap and hope but you can change the coolant temperature sensor for about $15.
Assuming it's not cooling properly, the only thing I can think of is the water pump but when they fail, water usually comes out of the weep holes (at least most water pumps do).
I recommend reviewing the questions at the top and try to get a scanner read out. If it really is running that hot, you're going to ruin your motor if you keep driving it.

 

-Did you flush it or just change the coolant?

Just changed it, didn't flush.

-What was the condition of the old coolant? Dirty? Chunks?

The condition of the coolant was green, no chunks, etc. But it was slightly brown. There is a light film of "dirt" on the neck of the radiator.

-Did you run it without the thermostat? Did it get that hot?

I didn't run it without a t-stat. I did get heat with the old t-stat. It was about a month after I bought the truck I start to have problems with it getting weee-bit hot.

-Do you have any leaks?

Negative

-Did you "burp" the system?

What is burp the system?

-Dumb question but have to ask--are you sure you put the thermostat in with the right end up?

Doesn't hurt to ask but yes I did put the t-stat on right and it is working.



I have a slight idea what it is. After doing the coolant and t-stat, it was doing the samething so I changed the radiator cap. Now the reservoir fills up to full when hot. When I seen the temp gauge go close to 260 mark, I didn't hear the coolant boiling or any steam anywhere. Water pump is fine because it is not leaking or making any kind of "funny noises". So I am thinking it could be the sending unit for the temp gauge on the cluster, thats reading wrong or there is an air pocket. I did get the air out. When I first filled the system up back up with coolant, started the truck, it went down till it stopped. Drove home (15min ride), let it cool and check it again. Filled it once again. This morning I went to check before leaving for work, it was full. I'm also thinking there is an air pocket.


How do you bleed the system, like if there was an air pocket somewhere in the intake manifold. Do you just take one of the sensors out that by the water neck?

 

Regarding burping the coolant system, https://dodgeforum.com/forum/diy-do-...e00ram360.html
Skip all the info on the water pump and read the last couple of paragraphs. It helps to have the truck parked on an incline (front higher than rear) while running with the cap off.
I think there is only one coolant sensor. It screws into the intake and costs about $15. I think you have to unbolt the alternator to get to it.