I just bought this 2005 1500 v8 for a steal 82,xxxx miles. A month in and I am over heating. The radiatior has coolant and the over flow. Took it to a garage they said there was air blockage and charged me 200 to fix it. It overheated again. I changed the thermostat wich let the radiatior drain. Refilled it. But I'm still overheating and the fluid isn't leaving the radiator.with such low miles I would think the pump would be bad. But it does have 17 years of age... Thoughts? Anyone had this problem before. I should add that there is no discoloration of the oil.

With the engine running the hoses to the ac/heat are warm. Squeezing them raises the radiatior fluid. Radiator fluid is cold. Squeezing the radiatior hoses also raises the fluid.

 

Sounds like you need to check the radiator itself.

 

Heater core could be plugged, hose could be collapsing under the pressure, thermostat could be stuck, radiator could have blockage, fan clutch may be shot or bearing is that smoked on water pump and she ain’t movin the fluid

 

Top and bottom radiator hoses should be very warm/hot, top more so than bottom, if coolant is flowing through radiator. Heater core flow/no flow matters for heat but not so much for engine cooling. To bleed air, turn heater temp to full hot, run the front up on jackstands or jack as high as you can go and idle without the radiator cap till warm. Top off as needed till the bubbles stop.

Water pump vanes could be shot and not moving the coolant. Spin the radiator fan. It should stop quickly, not freewheel. Grab fan blades, rock fan back and forth. Any play means WP bearings are shot.

 

It sounds like the water pump impeller may not be turning. I have seen them break off of the shaft. The outer part of the shaft will turn with the pulley and look normal. I would look there if the bleeding process mentioned above does not work.

 

The others above definently seemed to cover the many posibilities, if I may add my 2 cents I battled this for quite some time after blowing out the bottom hose on a country road in show low, not knowing much better myself, repaired, refilled and off i went. This truck seems to be very sensitive to any 1 bubble of air. There isn't really an overflow tank although it looks like one, fill that thing all the way up. Put some electrical tape around the neck of the funnel so it seats firmly in the reservoir, start your truck and crank the heat. You need the truck to warm up to temp (needle in the middle) the heater core will open up and draw 1/3 of your filled reservoir. Fill it up. If it's like my 02, there's a bleeder screw Allen head really tight you won't break it but don't strip it! Loosen most of the way leaving it barely threaded in you'll see bubbles . exercise squeezing your top hose as much as you feel like doing it and let the system run. It'll take a while! I mean over 30 minutes while at least. Be patient and maintain full reservoir and keep burping. You should be blowing hot *** air in the cabin and no sweet smell hopefully. By now your steaming pretty good from your fill tank if you will, put the cap on and drive it. I would think I'm good and 15 minutes up the road it's overheating. I can't stress enough no bubbles. Oh ya don't forget to tighten your bleeder screw up😀good luck