2003 Dodge Durango overheats

[AL-T]

i have an 2003 Duarango SXT w/the 5.9 liter engine and 90k+ miles on it.my daughter drove the truck approx.14 miles from work and it overheated,spewed coolant all over the drivers side of engine.she claims the indicator in the dash did not come on???.anyway,i let it cool overnight and refilled with fresh coolant 50/50.i started it up no problems.i let it run for about 3-5 mins,checking the ac and heat.i have ac but no heat.i drove it about a quarter mile or so and watched the temp gauge climb.the indicator light came on as i was pulling into the driveway and i shut it off.no coolant leaked but is was HOT!now it has been hot outside 100 deg. plus with this heatwave but it's never done this before during hot weather. please help,AL

[rhandwor]

I think you have some air in the system which is the reason the heater doesn't work.
Make sure both the top and bottom radiator hose is hot. A thermostat may be bad causing this problem. If both hoses are hot feel the sides of the radiator for a cold spot. Its common for radiators to gradually plug and show up on real hot days.
If you have white smoke coming out of the exhaust you probably have a bad head gasket or cracked head. Get a loaner radiator tester at Advance Auto or Auto Zone put about 10 psi on the radiator run the engine if the gauge pulsates the head gasket is bad.

[N8ECH]

AL-T

What happens if you let it idle in the driveway? Will it overheat then?

Try leaving the filler cap off of the upper radiator hose to see if you get any air coming out of there as it warms up.

At some point, you will actually see the coolant begine to flow through the upper hose when the T stat opens.

It helps to run the rpms up to 1.5-2k several times once the T stat opens to purge any air out.

Once this is done, take her for a drive and observe how things go. Be sure to have the heat on full bore during the air purging to get air from those areas as well.

Don

[Papa George]

I had the same problem a couple of years ago and turned out to be the water pump, over time the vines in the pump just get corroded and the pump looses it,s cooling efficiency, coolant is suppose to prevent this from happing but does not always work (pumps just Ware out)

To check the pump and the thermostat take off the radiator cap and start it up and watch the temp and the level of fluid in the radiator you should see the level drop slowly, once the temp reaches about 180 the thermostat should open and you will see the coolant start to flow, when it reaches operating temp the coolant should be flowing fast, if not first thing you need to do is replace the thermostat. it should be the issue.

Please put the radiator cap on before turning the truck off !!!!!!