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Pickups Dodge Dakota Dodge Dakota - FAQs
241 messages, Last post on Dec 31, 2007 at 3:13 PM
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This may be a great time to remind everyone that they can get a $500 refund for buying a Dodge by joining their local Farm Bureau for $50. This is a guaranteed conversion of $50 ==>$500 - you cant do that good in the stock market on a good day! |
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First thing to ask is what is your application for purchasing a truck.? Will it be used for towing, city driving, hwy driving, or a combination of all of the above. I drive an '05 4.7L magnum SLT QC. Reasonable room in the rear for two teenagers. Front seats are heated and drivers is adjustable. Decent truck and as can be read prior to this post seems to be OK on towing .. although I would not want to max out Chryslers rating (7000lbs). Avg hwy mileage seems to be 21-23mpg depending on tail/head wind..!! No major problems and I am at 94,800km (59250 Miles). City mileage is probably in the 14-16 mpg range. The bed is about 5.5-6'...never measured it. but big enough that I can haul some drywall and 4X8 sheets of whatever. Only problem I had was with my brakes...that being that Dodge has still not figured out how to mix front disc with rear drum brakes and the first chance I get I am going to convert to rear discs. Read my earler post on what the problem was and how nicely (sic), they dealt with it. Only other thing that gets me is the interior cloth sucks as it gets very dirty - very quickly..now one chould take that comment with a grain of salt as I am in the vehicle nearly 2-4 hours out of every 8-10 hr. day Advise you check out the LemonAid Guide (or online). Don't buy all the BS in auto mags as many are paid (hmm I wonder by who..??), to say what they write. All in all though I am pretty happy with the unit and when the Co. decides it is time for me to go with a new veicle, I will very very likely buy it. Tricks done to date: K&N CAI, MagnaFlow 3" SS Exhaust, Long Trans Cooler w/Inline Filter, Roll-n-Lock Tonneau Cover, Spray-in Bed Liner, Le-Bra, Toyo 16" "wear like iron" tires, 180 Deg Tstat, (see Mikes Posting in this thread)..thanks to MIKe on that one..!! (got it today). Waiting patiently for SuperChips to come out with the chip. rgds, Theo |
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Well the title says it all. I did install the 180 yesterday and probably did a couple of things wrong: did not let engine heat up and then put rad cap on. Went for a small drive and temp went to near H.! OK so I learned on this one. What i do notice is that on the OEM stat and on the side flange there appears to be a small brass tube with a tiny steel ball on the one side. I gather this is the "bypass" that bPebbles was mentioning. Well on the 180 unit it of course does not have the bypass. i am wondering if a small hole drilled into the flange would work..?? I am going to try this and will report back as to what goes on. Also need to find the engine temp sensor and make sure it is in OK shape. That can be tested with an Ohm Meter set for 20K. Any resistance at all indicates it is functioning normally...so I am told.! Rgds, Theo |
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Replying to: steak2k1 (Jul 23, 2006 9:09 am) Also - are you certain that the thermostat you installed is compatable with a "bypass" cooling system? (uses the thermostat to mix the cold [radiator out] and hot [engine out] flows to produce the proper temperature into the engine) |
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Replying to: steak2k1 (Jul 23, 2006 9:09 am) THe Engine Coolant Temperature sensor is located on the front of the engine just below the MAP sensor. It has two wires. I can't tell you what the DC resistance range is, but as the temperature increases the sensor resistance decreases. Regards, Dusty
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Replying to: dustyk (Aug 03, 2006 4:58 pm) The 05/06 4.7 Tstat is standard all way round except on one part of the flange, there is samll ~1/8" hole with a brass pin that has flared ends on either side of the Tstat flange. This apparently opens and closes to allow mixing of the fluids on either side (I am assuming this is how the unit works). Reason I am after a 180, is simply to keep engine cooler while towing. This came toa head just 2 days ago coming back from a camping trip through Southern BC. Took the Salmo-Kooteny Pass and man oh man that is some grade...up to 8% is parts and minimum 6% overall - 35 Km of it.!! I was pulling 4360 lbs. (I'd gone over the scales that AM). Temperature was 32C and about 3/4 of the way up I was in 1st gear doing 40 klicks at about 4200 rpm. She heated up good. That was the only time I ever seen the dash sensor light come on. A tad alarming..! Pulled over, reved it up at 1800 in park and let the motor cool down...did that twice and we finally hit the summit. After that I had no problems the rest of the 450 km trip home. So if anyone knows where one can acquire a 54mm OD Tstat that is of the "bypass" type..I would love to hear aout it. Thanx in advanz, Theo
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| Driving home from work and the abs and parking light comes on. Then the head lights and instrument panel goes out. Can so one help me on where to start first. Oh by the way the rpm gauge comes on and off and the fuel gauge moves. | |
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Replying to: steak2k1 (Aug 08, 2006 9:39 pm) A "bypass" thermostat actually "reads" the temperature of the coolant ENTERING the engine. You can think as the "bypass" as the "hot" antifreeze coming out of the engine and the "cold" as being from the radiator. The thermostat then constantly mixes these two flows to maintain the target tempurture. When engine is 'cold', the thermostat seals off the outlet of the radiator and only allows the coolant to flow thru the bypass circuit effectively recirculating all the antifreeze in the engine around and around. This happens until the "target" temperature is reached. (this allows for faster warmups...thus less emmissions) At this point, a measured amount of 'cold' antifreeze is allowed out of the radiator to enter the flow. The thermostat constantly "reads" the temperature entering the engine and adjusts the mix of "cold" and "hot" antifreeze to maintain the target tempurature. Under extreme conditions, the thermostat can actually CLOSE OFF the bypass flow and forces ALL the flow to come from the radiator to enter the engine. (this condition may never actually ever occour.) The "hole" in the thermostat which you describe allows a very small amount of flow even when the radiator outlet is "sealed off". This small flow allows the antifreeze in the radiator to warm up a bit before it is 'used' in the engine. This is done to keep the engine block from cracking in cold wetaher. Without the hole, it would be possible for -10F antifreeze to flow into a hot engine when the thermostant opens up the radiator outlet. (the engineblock would instantly crack wide open due to this condition!!) Installing a regular NON-bypass thermostat can effectively scru up the entire cooling system because it does not have the proper components to throttle the "hot" and "cold" flows. Most likely, your cooling system would be incapaable of maintaining a constant tempurture. A bypass cooling system is so effective, that is why I have recommended to you several times to just leave the original alone. Changing the thermostat to a lower temturture can really mess with the onboard computer because it has several functions that need to key off of the designed target temparture. If you INSIST on installing a thermostat that deviates from the designed target tempurture, there are some places that offer such a device.... but beware, your onboard computer may never be "satisfied" that the engine has warmed up thus make for poor encoomy and generally unsatisfactory running. |
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Noise produced by the fan clutch on a Dodge truck is normal. The Dodge engines use a viscous clutch fan that permits reduced load and subsequent loss of horsepower at high speeds, yet increased cooling capacity at low speeds. These fans contain a high density silicone filled coupling that connects the fan blades to the water pump shaft. This design utilizes a thermostatic bimetallic coil spring that reacts to the temperature of the radiator discharge air. As the discharge air temperature through the radiator approaches 165 to 180 degress F, the bimetalic exerts pressure against a slip clutch and allows power of the water pump shaft to be transmitted through hydrostatic coupling to the fan assembly. This raises the speed of the fan blades and increases air flow through the radiator to provide increased cooling. Sometimes after a vehicle has been driven to operating temperature the bimetalic spring may expand to the maximum coupling position due to localized heat from the engine or radiator after shutdown. After a cooling period the spring may not contract or contract fully. Upon restart the expanded spring causes the fan to spin at engine RPM until enough cool air has been drawn through the radiator, Then the spring contracts. This is what causes that momentary period when the fan is heard after restarts. Testing the Fan Clutch Assembly If the fan assembly free-wheels without drag for more than five revolutions when spun by hand, the fan clutch assembly is defective. This test must be conducted when the engine is completely cool. Fan drive engagement begins when the radiator discharge air flow is between 165 to 180 degrees F. Disengagement begins when the air flow temperature is between 135 to 175 degress F. There should be no perceptible lateral movement of the fan blades. If so, the fan assembly is defective. Regards, Dusty |
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Replying to: steak2k1 (Aug 08, 2006 9:39 pm) It wasn't me but Bpeebles, who by the way has given some very good advice. The bypass thermostat is available from any Dodge dealer. As Bpeebles pointed out, a lower operating temperature will affect emission controls and cause less than optimum engine and vehicle operation. Long engine warm-ups and increase fuel consumption can result. In addition, because of the way the bypass type thermostat operates by providing bypass galleries in the engine block with coolant, you may actually find that a non-bypass thermostat might cause engine block hot spots. What this might cause I do not know. However, 4.7 equiped Dakotas tow very well in all temperatures from my experience. If you've encountered overheating I would first suspect something else is wrong, either the radiator is partially blocked, the thermostatic fan clutch is defective, or the radiator fan motor is inoperative. Best regards, Dusty |
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