I use a thin coat of RTV on the timing cover gasket as well, especially around the ports coolant passes thru. On my 96, I noticed that the cover itself was a bit eroded around the coolant ports..... if it gets bad enough, you will never get it to seal. And yes, I put rtv on the bolts as well, as they go directly into the cooling jackets.

 

Thanks for your knowledge and help, always! Turned out to be the upper end of the by-pass hose for me. However it took me almost four hours to complete. I'm pretty sure you know what I had to do to get to it. My bad for not positioning the hose clamp to be tightened through that little hole in the alternator- a/c bracket when I did the timing set replacement. I placed the clamp to the water pump end to be able to access. Don't know what happened on the upper end. Must have forgotten that step!! Well, still not willing to pay any labor money yet. Hey, I'm greatful I'm still able to work on it. Thanks again.

 

Glad it was an "easy" one for ya.

Yeah, dodge stashed some stuff in the oddest places..... I swear the engineers hate mechanics.

 

I have a 98 caravan SE 3.3L right now. Noticed that it wasn't making heat so I checked coolant tank and it was dry. Filled it up but when I ran it about 2 Miles, it would make heat and then get cold. Of course the more I stepped on gas, it would make heat. It started to overheat even though coolant tank was full. Haven't noticed any water leaking at all.we put water in radiator and it didn't overheat and drove it 10 miles. My dad put it on lift to see, couldn't find any leaks- until-they stepped on gas pedal and then found a leak apparently near or in block, to the timing chain gasket cover. From looking at videos and reading on this forum, it's a big pain in the ***. My question is do u have to drop down engine to get to gasket? Sounds like I'm gonna have to call a garage 😑

 

You need to post in the Caravan section. This section is for 2nd gen Ram trucks. They never used that motor, so, folks here are unlikely to know anything about it.