Hello all well sometimes my 05 Dakota Quad cab4.7 auto runs hot when driving home from work. I go from sea level to about 2500 ft, above sealevel gradualy on a semi winding 2 lane road. Most times it runs normal temp about 195 deg. but once in a while it gets up 3/4 of the way on temp gauge most times it sits about 1/8 of a inch below 1/2 way which is normal temp. have flushed cooling system new antifreeze new water pump new fan clutch.It dosent matter to much on outside temp. cant figure it out any ideas would be greatly appreciated thanks guys

 

My guess would be a sticking Thermostat, see my signature for a DIY link

 

Thanks for the reply I thought about that but its so intremittint wasnt sure . I did replace it about 6 months ago as it was doing this and didnt change things weird its got me stumped. was running the truck afew minutes ago up to temp and not getting a real good flow by looking it to the top of radiator when thermostat opens which i think is not normal but why only once in a while? I stuck a snap on digital thermometer in top of radiator just to see what temp was in radiator and got 208 deg average temp there with ac on at normal running temp at idle make sense

 

Sounds like a head gasket swing to me. Head gasket getting ready to go, or cracked head.

 

Well finallt figured it out partially plugged radiator replaced with new heavy duty one I found here on island. runs nice and cool with new 180 deg thermostat. Am so relieved. Wanna say thank you to all who responded to my post

 

I have the same exact problem with my 05 4.7, swapped all the same stuff as u did prior to radiator swap, still the same problem.
guess i need to swap radiator next

 

Yea after replacing radiator and installing 180 deg thermostat runs much cooler. Even when 90 deg outside going up hill with ac on full blast.