OK, I have a 2003 dodge ram 1500 5.7 4X4 with 120,xxx and a couple weeks ago I made it about 6 miles and my truck decided to spew antifreeze everywhere! not to mention overheating. I limped back home and after looking at this site religiously everyday trying to solve my problem I am still lost.

I have replaced the t-stat (its in correctly), the upper radiator hose because I had to cut the old one off, the radiator cap and the water pump. I then stuck a water hose in the radiator where the upper hose connects, and with the lower hose still connected I started the engine and flushed until I saw clear water come out of the water pump (where the t-stat sits after removing the t-stat of course). I bought some HOAT antifreeze and was able to pour about 1 gallon of mixed antifreeze into the reservoir until it reached the cold fill line (obviously takes more than 1 gallon). I started the engine and left the cap off to "burp" engine but the antifreeze in the reservoir started to rise until it almost overflowed! Also there is no heat, it is blowing air out but its not hot.

From what I have read I am thinking that there is an air lock in the system but hell what do I know, my truck is still broke!!

Any help obviously would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance

 

you should've let it overflow. There was probably still air in the system and it had to blow the water out of the way first. When I do mine, I leave the cap off and let it over flow all it wants. you'll be able to tell when the t-stat open because all of the sudden the water(coolant) will suck down the radiator. Leave it running and fill it up, put the cap on and fill the coolant bottle to where it needs to be. you should be good to go after that

 

I will do that first thing tomorrow and let ya know, thanks for the quick reply.

 

Another item to be aware of with the 4.7 is that when they overheat they tend to take out the head gasket too. If it continues to overheat after you bleed it really well, you might want to pull plugs and look for signs of water in one of the cylinders..

 

mine is a 5.7, is this something that is common with the 5.7 as well?

 

any engine will damage the head gasket if it overheats too much.

 

Well I let it overflow after letting it run for about 30 minutes to warm up, I topped off reservoir and took her for a drive and no more overheating!! thank you rtmttrdr! It now makes some bass like sounds from behind the dash when I crank the heat or A/C. Also the upper radiator hose never got hard, it got hot but not hard. But like I said it isnt overheating and I have heat now so I am happy. but if anybody has any ideas on the sound its making or why the upper radiator hose isnt getting hard let me know! Thanks

 

still has air in it. the bass sound is the air bubble. make sure the over flow res is full. it will draw coolant in as it cools over night.

 

It will take some time to get all the air out. It'll do it by it self. Like posted before make sure the bottle is full and check the level in the radiator in a couple of days