I have a 04 1500 w/ 158,000 miles. Lately my temp rises and falls constantly. Of course it rises more at idle. But it goes up to the max and then cools down as I continue driving. I dont wanna wait until too late to find out whats wrong. I have also noticed Im getting white smoke from the exhaust because there is apparently a coolant leak somewhere. What should I start with in order to fix these issues? I'm already gonna be under there tomorrow putting on a starter. So I wanna spend all day on it, to have it ready for the work week.

 

Moving you to the correct spot.

For future reference:
https://dodgeforum.com/forum/dodge-r...ead-first.html

 

Temp gauge at max..... White smoke from exhaust..... Hmmmmm Let me think.........= head gasket.
Al.

 

its probably started with the t-stat sticking and then the head gasket went. I'd try doing the t-stat and see what happens

 

I changed the thermostat and it ran fine that day ,but the very next day the temp. started to rise again.

 

I had the same problem with temp. Not the white smoke, but mine was the fan clutch quit working. So the fan would free spin and not engage so it would run hotter while idle or driving slow, and would be normal temp while driving on the highways.

 

Yeppir. It's been run too hot for too long.

 

put a 180 degree thermostat in it too makes the truck run a lot cooler.
Jet makes a good one.