My first post, I hope I am doing this right. I have a 2011 Durango Citadel with a Hemi. A couple of weeks ago as I was sitting in the drive thru the temp gauge went hot so I pulled out of line and turned the vehicle off. For several days after as long as I was moving the temp gauge was normal but if I was moving slow or idle the temp gauge went hot. The coolant was low so I put in the factory recommended coolant and also filled the reservoir. But I can smell the coolant as if though it is burning and within a week the reservoir is empty. Also the fan has been extra loud and today it sounded as if though I was coming in for a landing. I should mention that the heat has not been working for a couple months. We are scheduled to go camping Friday and I need to tow my pop-up but not sure what is going on and not sure if it is safe to drive let alone haul. Any thoughts and suggestions? Thanks a million!

 

If you know that it is losing coolant, I certainly would not risk getting stranded and/or causing significant engine damage towing the pop-up until the leak is found and fixed.

The first thing to check is to make sure you properly installed the pressure cap after adding coolant. If you have a buddy or shop with a cooling system pressure tester that should make it pretty easy to determine where the leak is from if it's not the pressure cap being improperly installed.

Your symptoms are consistent with a radiator cooling fan or fan clutch that is not functioning properly. The loud fan you experienced would seem to suggest the fan and clutch are probably functioning correctly assuming it is not always as loud as it sounded yesterday. But a good visual inspection of the fan blades would be worth performing.

-Rod

 

Thanks for the feedback!