I havent been on in a long time..I just wanted to show what my truck looks like since.

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Ive had a cooling issue..I know I live in the desert but I feel like I shouldn't have one. I have 2 electric fans one one a aux trans cooler (I can take pics if you like, its daisy chained off of the main cooler in the rad) and the main fan a flex-alite spal 180, cfm rated at 3000....and hood vents. Ive done the usual services...flush rad, replaced thermo, new water pump, made sure my balance with coolant is right and burped the system..or tried to anyway. Ive done what some youtube videos explained. my idea or solution is to fab up custom mounts for a better rad. aluminum double core...with or without trans cooler. Has anyone done this?

 

I had this problem with a car when I lived out there in your neck of the woods. Did all the stuff you did, then finally pulled the radiator, took it to the radiator shop where they cleaned it out for me. After that no more problems.

Nice looking Truck.

 

thanks! I haven't committed yet to doing another flush in the rad. I should before thinking about spending major money on aluminum radiator. My neighbor suggested I do my flush from the block to see if there's any blockage. This cooling issue has me wanting to throw in the towel and look for a new truck someday...but I havent crosssed that bridge yet. I like my truck to much. Although I do wish I had a 4 door crew cab...would have been nice.

 

If your radiator has clogged passages as mine did, no flush will help. The radiator shop cuts the radiator apart and dips them to clear all passages (I think). It wasn't too pricey, and was nice to be able to run my A/C and not see the needle move to the H

Whatever the solution, it's sure to be way cheaper than another truck.

i thought about getting something else last year, went to the dealer and was looking at 33k for new - so went to the used lot and everything was over $20k even though they were up in mileage. The Dakota has been looking good since.

I got a good deal on my Dakota in '08 when the economy hit the skids. Think I'll just wait till that happens again before I get another. BTW, that was right after a presidential election.

 

Good talking points. You probably noticed through out your expierence that the 4.7L uses the same Rad as the v-6? Is this Chrysler (past tense) cutting corners? Or did they really think that a single core rad could cool a v8 properly? Regardless of blockage or not. how many miles did you do your rad tear down? I just rolled over to 92K Mi. I cant complain t0o hard though..don't get me wrong my dakota has been problem free besides a steering rack that wore out around 65Kmi. other than that, basic maintence with synthetic oil changes.

 

I would have to think the stock rad is good for light/ medium duty stuff. Of course they are going to do just whats needed. Are you doing heavy duty stuff when it heats up? 4x4 ing? towing?

That rad that clogged on me happened around 100k. Not sure of the cause since I bought used.

I wonder if you can take a temp gun and see what kind of temp drop you're getting across that rad?

 

Had cooling problems with my 05 quadcab 4.7 flushed 3 times still ran hot almost overheat kind hot replaced radiator cost about $150.00 and installed 180 thermostat no problems ever since. Fixed the problem and not to expensive to boot

 

new rad for $150, for that price I wouldn't bother with a rad shop. I've been told before that if the coolant in our trucks is mixed with the "green" stuff it causes a gel that will cause blockages. I could see this happening quite often.

 

Lately Ive been towing. Nothing serious, but U-haul moving trailers can get heavy. There's a lot of grades between Las Vegas and Arizona. My grandmother had past and I was helping family move furniture and items from the estate. But that part is over now so I wont be towing anytime too soon. But my goal is to be able to tow a car and trailer without having to worry. Driving in town is whats getting me frustrated with no load on the engine and not pulling anything. Needle likes to climb past the halfway point. I actually just borrowed a temp gun from my neighbor so Ill see what happens.

 

Ive kept that in the back of my mind...when doing my last service I only used dex-cool I think...it was red. I also recently took a pressure washer and blasted the front end of the truck to hopefully dislodge and debris but to no avail. The price isn't bad for a new rad...Ive put on new mud terrains recently and I would like to go wheeling soon. But I have to get this temp thing under control first.