So, I live in Indiana and we just got a huge cold spell Sunday night into Monday morning. When I got up to go to work at 6 a.m. I went out and started the truck (I have a 2002 Dodge ram 1500 standard can with the new body style.) about 5 minutes before I had to leave to warm it up a little bit like I always do. Left work I had heat and everything was business as usual until about 10 minutes my trucks temp gauge maxed out (I keep a close eye on all my gauges because this truck has been nothing but a dumpster fire since I got it) and when I pulled off to the side of road steam was coming out from under my hood. So I got a ride to work and got dropped off to it after to investigate what the problem was, I still had coolant and there weren't any signs of leaks in the snow I was parked on, I started it up and let it run for a little while and my gauge was sitting right in the middle like normal but I had no heat anymore, so I tried to slowly drive it home but every 5 minutes I had to pull over to let it cool back down. I got it home without ever redlining the temp gauge and minimal steam came out when I parked, that's when I noticed I had a small crack in my radiator, which is plastic so I thought not a big deal I'll go get some rapidfix and patch it up. I was able to patch the crack in the tank and let it sit for 26 hours to ensure the adhesive and weld powder was fully set and cured. Well today when I fired it up and drove it up and down my street I still didn't have any heat, but the crack did not leak so I wasn't getting any steam even though my temp was still trying to overheat. What could my issue be now? I was thinking maybe the thermostat got stuck closed but I wanted to see if you guys thought any different, please get back to me asap.

 

I know the patch over the crack worked. My issue is something else I can't see.

 

I know the patch over the crack worked. My issue is something else I can't see.

 

Attempting to repair plastic tanks is a bad idea. It WILL fail, and when it is least convenient. Replacement is the only sure way to fix it.

Did you check your coolant level? It sounds like it is low..... but, if level is good, thermostat is the first step.

Moving this to third gen Ram section for ya.

 

Thank you sir, it's only gotta get me like a month before I'm a little bit more set on my bills, as I'm a 23 year old pipefitter apprentice so that means I'm a broke bitch right now. I went ahead and bought a new thermostat and I'm planning to install it tonight. I'll post results.

 

Now THAT, I understand. We've all been there before.

 

Did you feel your upper and lower radiator hose to see if hot coolant was circulating? Top house should get hot. Thermostat would be a start. Check your radiator for freeze damage. The top might be budged up or the cooling fins might be swelled from water freezing. Good luck.

 

I suggest to go after the thermostat. If it is of any help, this is what I found when temperature on my truck was acting wonky. The main body of the thermostat was working fine. Problem was the engine valve end of it, the bottom piece of the thermostat, had fallen off. The crimp or solder had failed. I put a new thermostat in, though I probably could have just re-soldered the bottom back on this one and it would have been fine thereon.


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Check your thermostat just pull the thermostat and put the hose back on and see how that works