Thanks everyone (especially you, HeyYou), just made a run and so far, so good (but that's been the outcome after every step I've taken in this diagnosis/repair). Heading back home tonight so that will be another "let's see if this worked for real" run! Results to follow!

 

Goodluck!!

 

Thought that I had it dialed in, everything was seemingly fine, no gurgling noises, no overheating until this morning...made the 60 mile drive to my mom's and as soon as I got to the red light at the exit and idled, the temp gauge climbed! Green light, pressed accelerator gurgling sound, temp went back to normal!


I did a good job of getting the air out of the system last time, borrowed a floor jack and had that sucker up high and took my time with the burping process, so there HAS to be air getting in the system from somewhere! I'm assuming that it's not the Heater Core because the heat blows hot and the air blows cold so I'm gonna replace the radiator today or tomorrow (already bought it) and go from there.


What say you fellow Dodge owners; do you think I'm taking the right steps?

 

Before you toss in that radiator with the plastic side tanks, look for one of the ALL aluminum welded radiators that are out there. (hopefully someone can provide a link) MUCH better radiator, without the issues of the plastic side tanks.

 

Will do, but this issue is becoming expensive...already spent over $100 in Coolant alone in the past month. If I can't get all aluminum before I head back home, gonna just toss the one I got in and have the aluminum one on hand when the plastic one wears out.

 

Found an all aluminum one for $122.38 total (including shipping and 3-year optional warranty) on PartsGeek.com; gonna order it for sure. It's cheaper than the one I just bought ...how patient can I be?

 

did you burp the system with the heat on full blast?

if it gets hot during idle, and then goes down once you move, id think water pump. since its 3 months old, id go replace it for a new one just to be safe. you said it will blow hot and cold air, so there has to be a circulation problem.

 

When burping, had heat set to hottest, vents off, blower off. Thought I read on here that's how to do it...which I thought was weird, should it be on full blast when burping?

It only gets hot at idle after being driven, I had it running for at least 45 minutes last time I burped it...which was Friday morning and the temp stayed consistent 198* the entire time. Also stayed consistent 198* during the 60 mile drive until I got to the red light.


Water Pump is still under warranty so, replacing again won't be a problem but, I 'd rather not

 

Ha! I totally mis-read that page! This isn't for Aluminum...glad I double checked before I clicked on that submit payment button!

 

heat on full with vents open is how I was taught (mostly because some electrically controlled valves shut down when you shut the vents off). Did you do another pressure test? How is your fan shroud (I've seen cars overheat with cracked shrouds when they stop, when moving the airflow volume is high enough to cool it, but stopped the air may bypass the cooling fins). I have a car that takes forever to bleed (pontiac grand prix) I found I do the normal bleed, let it cool, do another, then drive, and open up a bleeder screw (one of those lever vent caps might work for bleeding like that?)