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Changing the thermostat on a 4.7....?

9K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  srt8durango 
#1 ·
Well my Dakota is just giving me the fits... Last night on a trek back from the north country the temp gauge pegged...!

The coolant in the radiator was on a rolling boil and the “heat” coming from the air ducts was not hot which leads me to believe that the thermostat is stuck closed... Correct...?

The tech manual has a couple of cautions regarding swapping the thermo talking about corroded bolts on older engines (2000 Dakota, 120,000 miles.) and stuff like that.

Is this a fairly straight forward job or can I get into trouble if I start the job here at home...? I would hate to tie up the garage and still have it towed to a service garage especially after I had it towed home last night...!

How can a thermostat go bad and allow an engine to over heat when it is so cold...? Driving 65-70 on a freeway then some secondary roads and then into town...?

It is cold here ta-day, windy, not a reat time to be friggin' with this stuff.... :(

Thanks,
Rob
 
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#2 ·
Its not that bad but the thermo is located in a pretty tricky spot (located on the bottom of the engine from the lower rad. hose)...it isnt too bad...changed mine 2 weeks ago after the water pump literally exploded in the driveway after driving a round trip of 150 miles. My bolts were ok even with 150k miles on them.
 
#3 ·
Thanks... I am still trying to decide which way to go with it. AAA will tow it to the garage in the morning so I may not even turn a wrench on it... kinda chilly here and windy.... not a good time for this sort of surgury.

My biggest problem is trying to figure out why it pegged the temp, the coolant is right up to snuff.

Does a thermo just stick out of no where while driving along...? ? ?

Thansk,
Rob
 
#6 ·
Well I went out and indeed tapped on the thermo housing... could not help myself.

Checked the radiator for level and went for a blast around the block. When you live in the sticks the block is either five miles or eight miles or twelve miles or more depending on where you go... I went the short route.

I stopped half way to let the engine idle (high) to see if the thing was gonna peg again or not. Nothin'...

Turned the heater and fan on and it is blowing hot air.

Drove back home and idled some more, holding right at 180-190, not sure which thermo is in there.

The heater is still blowing hot air and the gauge is holding steady.

So, what happened here...?

Thanks,
Rob
 
#7 ·
Sounds like the thermostat...but check to see if your filler neck clamps broke too. If you still have the plastic ones on, break the bitches and put metal clamps on...one of mine let go a few years back and I couldnt figure out why until I saw a small leak from one of those clamps and once I put the metal clamps on...no more overheating issues.
 
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