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Dodge Durango Overheating Problems

64 messages,  Last post on Oct 16, 2009 at 3:54 PM

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#45 of 64 Leaking on the floor by terryomega Aug 24, 2009 (1:20 am)
If it is leaking on the floor inside of the truck, you have a bad heater core and it need to be changed. If you are having puddles under the car the thermostat may be getting stuck. What you can try is to drill a small hole in the thermostat so more coolant can flow through it.
#46 of 64 Re: durango overheating..... [sdout] by americo Aug 24, 2009 (6:19 pm)
Replying to: sdout (Aug 23, 2009 8:52 pm) thanks sdout..........i will try those suggestions....... i appreciate the help..........i'll let ya know how it works out........                                                      Rico...
#47 of 64 Re: durango overheating..... [sdout] by americo Aug 24, 2009 (6:24 pm)
Replying to: sdout (Aug 23, 2009 8:52 pm) thanks sdout..........i will try those suggestions....... i appreciate the help..........i'll let ya know how it works out........ohh yea i also just noticed that the resevior coolant was boiling and the level in the rdaitor went low after that.....the coolant level has been fine...thanks again                                                      Rico...
#48 of 64 Could it in fact be the fan clutch? by tessaelizabeth Aug 25, 2009 (8:45 am)
After reading all these post i feel better knowing i am not the only one with this problem, mainly this is to sdout, it appears to me you really know your stuff. So here's my problem.     About 6 or so months ago I began smelling anitfreeze in my 03 durango something terrible, then i noticed a leak in the back of the car by the exhaust. So I took it to the mechanic and he told me that it was my rear heater core. (Sorry if I get some of my wording wrong, mechanically inclined I am not.) And it would be around 500 bucks to replace it, I could not afford that, so, they charged me 160 to bypass it. Well that worked fine until about 2 weeks ago.I was in New Mexico visiting my husband(he works out of town) and noticed the car sounded like it was ideling high when it came time to change gears, I went from the motel to the gas station, about 2 blocks, and while filling up to go home decided to check my transmission fluid on the suspision it might be low, it was fine so i decided to check my antifreeze since I had been having problems. I felt the cap first and it was not even warm, since I had only gone a few blocks I figured it was fine. Well, when I loosened the cap it blew off throwing antifreeze all over my, luckily it wasnt hot or i'd have been in a world of pain. Maybe I shouldv'e had the car turned off before removing the cap, i dont know. Then I drove the 2 hours home without a problem. The next day Wendell came home on days off and was washing his worktruck and our durango and had it running listening to the stereo so the battery wouldnt run down. Well, when he turned it off, there was a loud pop and antifreeze went everywhere, from the rear. just sizzlein the whole time and smoke going everywhere. I am sure the smoke was from the liquid hitting such a hot dry surface. After it cooled off he checked it out and said the shops bypass job had failed and the hose had busted or something, i dont rightly remember. I dont know what he done, but he said he fixed the hose and reclamped it. He ran the durango for about 30 minutes and it seemed fine. So we went about 30 miles away to an event with our kids. Car was fine. Then last week after doing some running around town I came home and when I turned off the car I heard a sssszzzzzzz noise and opened the hood and anitfreeze was coming out the resivoir tank. I thought it may be the thermostat, the car is getting hot yet it is full of antifreeze, again i really know nothing about cars. I also notice it is worse when running the a.c. So I went and got a new thermostat the premium one at that, and had it changed. But this past Saturday night Wendell was running the car again to listen to the radio. I started complaining because I knew my ride was still acting up, so finally after much ado he turned it off, and again fluid started coming out the reserve tank. Then one of his friends said he thinks its the fan clutch cause it spun to freely when he moved it. Now I have had it sitting in the driveway since sunday morning and took it this morning to the store. Not really far at all. maybe a half mile round trip. When I got to the store I smelled antifreeze, and seen a little was trickling from the reserve, I was at the store maybe 15 minutes, came home and parked it and decided to see if the internet could be of any assistance.   So, with all that being said, I really hope you can be of some assistance to me. I am afraid this is going to be expensive and money is something we dont have a whole lot of. And I dont even know what a fan clutch is, I am assuming it is a.c. related, because the a.c. wont even work if you put it on high now, and when you do run it the air takes longer than normal to get cold. And I thought all the rear heater core done was ran the heater in the backseat, I know once they bypassed it the rear heater doesnt work, yet the rear a.c. does. I thought it was all the same switch, you just adjust the tepmerature control.    I have had my durango sice 06 but it is an 03, with right under 90,000 miles, and until this it has not really given me any trouble at all. About a year ago, my step-dad took out the radiator and done a complete flush on it and changed the thermostat then as well cause it was overheating and giving me some trouble.     All I know Is I have 3 children under the age of ten and cannot be without a vehicle, So I am really hoping to get some insight here as to what is going on.
#49 of 64 oh yeah, i forgot to add this. by tessaelizabeth Aug 25, 2009 (9:05 am)
Sometimes when I am tying to pass someone on the road and accelerate it does exactly the opposite, it starts sputtering as if its getting no gas to wherever the gas goes. Not sure if its related, with my luck it is probally something different altogether. My engine light has been on since we bought it in 06, iv'e taken it in a few times and they reset the light, but now after this last time liquid went everywhere the engine light has gone off, so I wonder now if the liquid might have messed up my sensors. Damned Durango! Replies to this message: sdout (Aug 26, 2009 12:30 am) tessaelizabeth (Aug 26, 2009 6:09 am)
#50 of 64 Re: oh yeah, i forgot to add this. [tessaelizabeth] by sdout Aug 26, 2009 (12:30 am)
Replying to: tessaelizabeth (Aug 25, 2009 9:05 am) Okay, you have given me plenty to think about and I appreciate that. Let me start off by saving you a few bucks with your engine light problem and show you how your Durango can help you diagnose your problem. In my Durango and Dakota (both 2001), if you have an engine light on you can retrieve the codes by turning the key on quickly (not start just to the "on" position) 3 times. You need to have your odometer set to show the regular miles (not the trip miles) and on the 3rd time a code should appear in the odometer. All cars made since 1996, have standardized on OBDII (I think) and will give codes in that format. For engine problems it will be something like P0455. The "P" stands for powertrain. You can then take that code and google it to find what sensor is detecting a problem and begin your troubleshooting process. These codes will even tell you what cylinder is giving you a problem (a great help when your car is missing and your don't know what cylinder is causing the problem). There are some specialized codes, but I believe most that are under 1000 are standard for all makes and models. This won't clear the engine light, but it will let you know where a problem is that needs to be fixed. Once the problem is fixed sometimes it takes several starts without detecting a problem before the light is extinguished. This may help with your stepping on the gas but stuttering problem. My guess is a bad O2 sensor or clogged fuel filter. Defective gas caps are known to give random check engine light messages. But when the light is on, try to check the code, it will be more accurate than my guess.   Okay, now let's get to your overheating problem. One of the problems I think you may be having is with your auxiliary water pump. This water pump is designed to pump water to the rear heater core (it might actually be used to pump water to the front and rear heater core, I'm not really sure). I can't recall if the auxilary water pump uses electric power or not. I would think so, because it doesn't get it from the engine. It is located on the passenger side in the engine compartment on top of the fender well near the firewall. It's easy to identify because it uses heater hose just like the one running to the heater core. I have had this device cause problems before. I think what happens is that the water is unable to be pumped up into the heater core(s) and so that coolant ends up draining back into the rest of the cooling cyle that is working. This causes more fluid in the system than it can hold so some of it goes back into the overflow container, once the overflow container is full it begins to spill out onto the ground. In your case I think that your auxilary water pump may be starting to go and working intermittently. I think this might be why at times you have a puddle and this is what caused the bypass to "pop" off. In addition, when some of the coolant has been drained and the auxiliary pump begins to start working, it is robbing coolant from the main cooling system forcing the system to cool with less coolant. Since there is less coolant available, it begins to get hot. I don't have a real easy way to test the auxilary water pump except to see if it is powered with 12 Volts and listen to see if the motor is running properly. If you can find a way to see if it is pumping or stuttering or barely moving then you might have your answer. As far as I know this auxilary water pump can only be purchased through the dealer.     Unfortunately, I'm not sure that this is your problem or only problem. You stated your Durango is having a problem shifting and that your AC is not working great. Both of those have coolers (they look like smaller radiators). The one for the transmission is called a transmission cooler, the AC one is called a condenser. Both are located in front of the radiator (the transmission cooler is the smaller one, models without the towing package may not have it). All of them require good air flow over them to work correctly. If one of them is really hot, it can impact the effectiveness of the others. The fan clutch is a likely culprit because all three of these rely on it drawing in air over them to work properly. You could test this by running the vehicle and seeing if you hear the noticeable roar and an increase in RPMs between 1/4 and just under 1/2 on the temp gauge. This could be your only problem. The failure of the fan clutch to properly cool the car could have caused a build up in pressure and caused the bypass hose to "pop" off. If your car is getting over 1/2 way on the temp gauge make sure your electric fan is kicking on (located in front of the regular fan, you may need to use a flashlight to see if it is working).   If I was in your situation I would check the fan clutch first and change if it does not kick on.   I would check the coolant level as often as possible to make sure there is no fluctuation. If high or puddling sometimes and low at others with no leaks then I would suspect the auxiliary water pump. If you can bypass the auxilary water pump and still have fluctuating coolant level, change the main water pump.   If fan clutch changed or working, no fluctuation in coolant, then I would suspect the radiator.   It is important that after losing coolant you maintain close to a 50/50 mixture of coolant to water for best cooling results.   When checking the coolant, do not remove the radiator cap if the car was recently running or is still warm to the touch. Check it from the overflow coolant container. If the car needs coolant it will take it from there, if it is dumping coolant it will fill it up. Do not overfill. Only fill to the top of the holes on the dipstick - this allows some room for the coolant when warm, but it should not normally flow out of this container. Replies to this message: tessaelizabeth (Aug 26, 2009 6:09 am)
#51 of 64 Re: oh yeah, i forgot to add this. [sdout] by tessaelizabeth Aug 26, 2009 (6:09 am)
Replying to: sdout (Aug 26, 2009 12:30 am) First I wanna say thanks for the heads up on the sensor thing, now I just gotta wait for the light to come on again. So now to the water pump thing. Are there 2 ? I ask because you stated something about possibly bypassing the auxiliary water pump by changing the main water pump. Well I think I had the water pump changed back in september of 2007. I remember taking it and have something changed,but I dont remember if it was the water pump or the starter, but i'm pretty sure it was the water pump, but I bought it at auto zone and had a mechanic across the street install it so I dont believe it was the auxiliary water pump if you can only get it from dealers. I never go to the dealership, it is too expensive. I used to have my daddy do all my mechanicing, but he is 4 hours away and unavailable right now.   I know my durango has a 5.9L engine and it is a 4x4 with the tow package. And I know that I do not have a clue about these different fans you speak of, but tonight my friends husband is supposed to be changing the fan clutch for me, he really seems to think that is the problem. I will have him read this beforehand though and I will let you know the outcome.   However, last night I decided to go outside and check this all out for myself. Before I even started the durango I took off the radiator cap to check the fullness, keep in mind that it had not been driven for about 4 almost 5 hours, and when i release the cap it was like a small pressure was released and a bubble of antifreeze came out. It has done that about the last 5 times I have checked it. I started the car and after about 10 minutes of idling it was already to the half way mark. I felt the line going to the engine from where you put the antifreeze in and it was really super hot, yet the line on the other side of the the engine was real cool to the touch, so I wonder if it is possible the thermostat my husband installed could be faulty? I also bought a gasket and gasket sealer, but he did not use them, so could it maybe not have been sealed properly, he told me he didn't use it cause it didn't need it. Anyway while the car was started I noticed it is making a few new sounds. The most noticeable one is a mouse squeak kinda sound coming from down in the fan rotating area, sorry I dont know what things are to explain it better. But when I had my kid turn it off, I heard a kinda like a suction quitting, like at the car wash when the carpet vac cuts off. I also wonder if I should replace the radiator cap itself, because there has been fluid sitting right under the hose there as if it may be leaking out from the cap. The only time it seems to lose any liquid is the few times it has spewed out the reserve tank hole. I have preston 50/50 stuff that I have been using to refill it. I also noticed that the cap on the reserve was not fitting right. It was not closing down over the bumps around the rim, but I fixed that last night, But I was wondering if that could be why fluid was coming out of it?
#52 of 64 p1494 by tessaelizabeth Aug 27, 2009 (6:12 pm)
P1494 is the code it gave me. And I read that it is involved in the fuel and emmisions stuff.Faulty Gas cap, leak in the line, so on and so forth type of related stuff. Thanks for the tip on that, I will take care of it as soon as I can. Replies to this message: sdout (Aug 27, 2009 9:23 pm)
#53 of 64 Re: p1494 [tessaelizabeth] by sdout Aug 27, 2009 (9:23 pm)
Replying to: tessaelizabeth (Aug 27, 2009 6:12 pm) I haven't had that exact code but I've had a ton of P0455 and P0454 or something like that. One is a small evaporative leak and the other is a gross evaporative leak. The funny thing about this error is that it won't show on a full tank. It will only come up after the tank is down to about 80% full. It is also one of those errors that you may have to run the car for a little bit and then stop and start it again a few times before it goes away. If the gas cap is not on tight (until it clicks), it could cause one of the errors, I've listed above. After replacing 2 or 3 gas caps, I finally figured out what to look for. There is a rubber gasket around the gas cap (it mates to the metal filling lip). If there isn't a rubber gasket or it is cracked or split, that could be your problem. I haven't found a gas cap with a tether, so I drill a hole in the new gas cap and take the tether off the old gas cap. Anyhow, if you find that your rubber gasket is in place and the gas cap tight, then you will have to check under the car. About midway between the tires on the drivers side in front of the gas tank there should be a couple of gas lines (I think one end of the two hoses goes to a cannister looking device). One is smaller, like a typical fuel line and the other is a little bigger, not quite as big as a heater hose but close. Thoroughly check these hoses. If there are cracks you need to replace it or cut it back if you have enough hose (I cut mine back and it lasted for about 6 months to a year and then I was fixing the problem again, as described below). I think both of these hoses are evaporative only, so there isn't any gas in them. On my Durango, the backside of one of the hoses I couldn't see was entirely split. The really goofy thing is that one of the hoses has different sizes of pipe that it connects to. One side seems to fit fairly easy, but the other is a little bigger and a little difficult to get on (if you have to stretch it too much you will split the hose or weaken it and you'll be replacing it again fairly soon). Since the hose bends, you can buy the hose from Dodge or get some hose and use one of those hose spring forming devices (they are usually a couple bucks and keeps the hose from kinking). It is best to get fuel hose (but I think I had a hard time finding the hose for the larger size and may have used something like heater hose and a hose clamps to get it to fit). I had to fix this about a year ago and I haven't had the error return.
#54 of 64 2000 Durango Overheat by meclipse1 Aug 31, 2009 (6:52 pm)
Shout out to sdout! Having same problem with over heaating as everyone else. Runs (under load- towing boat or using A/C) about 30 mins. then begins to get hot. Had in Radiator shop 3 times, all checks out OK. Added fluids, pressure check, new cap, radiator flush. Don't know what else to do. getting ready to replace radiator. Mine sould be dual core as I was told, along with a few other "lies" that it had Tow pkg. so not sure if it does since I can't find tranny cooler! This began at about 60K miles. Think new dual core will help; have been reading other forums and some have replaced radiators with no luck. Will check with my radiator mech. who looks at core width but didn't mention dual core. Will also check out timeing belt cover as you suggest. Also read that some factory installed thermostats were installed upside down at the factory! Have checked and mine OK. No check engine lights. Do you think 2000 has dual water pumps? Have rear A/c but not heat(that I'm aware of). Will check this also.Any additional input would greatly be appreciated as am getting ready to go to lake in 2 weeks! Replies to this message: sdout (Sep 24, 2009 6:22 pm) sdout (Sep 24, 2009 7:13 pm)

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