CAUTION: Read this might help symptoms and save time

5745 Views 12 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Big_Texxan, Nov 30, 2013

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · Mar 3, 2013

Okay, so not sure of how many of yall have this problem, but I figured it out today. This has to deal with the boiling of coolant, overflowing of coolant, or leaking and/ or mysterious coolant leaks and disappearing of coolant. I had this problem the other day and I found out the coolant was pretty low. I topped it off and the next day I smelled the coolant and checked under the hood while filling up and found out why my coolant had boiled over, hadnt kept pressure, and seemed like a head gasket problem. Chryslers enginneering of the upper one piece radiator hose had failed, and I have a cheap and great solution to fix it.

That picture where the clamps are is where the OE hose plastic clamps goes. Those tend to crack and break over the heat cycles of the engine and the motor flexing the hose out. The right clamp where the plastic goes is where I had the problem. The clamp had broke and caused the hose to slip a little, causing the coolant to loose pressure and leak out of the hoses.

I reccomend taking the OE plastic clamps off and getting some screw on clamps or spring clamps and replace. Fixed the problem for a 4 hour car ride.

Hope this helps some peoples problems. It is not a head gasket, just a shitty piece of plastic

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 1

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · #2 · Mar 3, 2013

Forgot to mention, after the car trip, I checked the hoses and level of coolant, none has leaked or sprayed out, and the hoses have not slipped off.

Save

Dakota73

· #3 · Mar 6, 2013

Yeah it's a bad design on Dodges part.Ive had to replace that plastic housing on both my Dakota and Durango.Whoever heard of putting the radiator cap in the middle of the hose.why not put it on the radiator like most car manufacturers.

Save

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 6, 2013

it really is. I hear ya on that one

Save

kkeyes66

· #5 · Sep 13, 2013 (Edited)

This is exactly where I'm seeing coolant seeping from. Thanks for the pic!

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 1

kkeyes66

· #6 · Sep 14, 2013

Damn. I while changing the clamps I noticed the plastic in-hose fill cap was basically deteriorating from the inside. Replace it with a new one but talk about poor design.

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

See less See more

Save

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · #7 · Sep 14, 2013

kkeyes66 said:
Damn. I while changing the clamps I noticed the plastic in-hose fill cap was basically deteriorating from the inside. Replace it with a new one but talk about poor design. View attachment 60930

Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

damn thats good to know. Im going to be checking that soon now

Save

Jim4x4Dakota

· #8 · Sep 15, 2013

well on my truck they had ignored this problem long enough for the head gaskets to blow. I repaired them again because of this same problem that they ignored when they had repaired the head gaskets. I also replaced the hoses and used good stainless steel hose clamps from lowes on those hoses.

Save

hskrRT

· #9 · Sep 15, 2013

Just be careful putting the worm gear clamps on the plastic fill cap housing cause you could break that if you try to make them too tight. Might as well buy one of the aluminum housings at the same time and kill two birds with one stone.

Save

rnst2

· #10 · Nov 7, 2013

ahh. see my fix now.
ok, where to get the metal/alum housing?
I thought my water pump is broke.
good to know.
thanks for the share

Save

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 7, 2013

rnst2 said:
ahh. see my fix now.
ok, where to get the metal/alum housing?
I thought my water pump is broke.
good to know.
thanks for the share

Clamps or the housing you see in the pic?

sent from somewhere where I'm not home on a phone not paying attention to something important like school -_-

Save

supergrover

· #12 · Nov 30, 2013 (Edited)

Thank you Thank you Thank you!
I have been having the EXACT same symptoms while driving through Colorado and Utah. I will try your solution tomorrow and will report back.

My Story:

I had a leak while driving across country from Detroit to Provo hauling a travel trailer with a 2001 4.7L Dakota Quad Cab Sport. The truck overheated in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but the coolant was everywhere. A call to AAA brought "Ol' Reliable" towing and service. The owner, Fred, was the nicest guy on the planet. He towed the truck AND the travel trailer, dropped us off at the most fabulous Victorian hotel in Walsenburg, the La Plaza Inn, where we had a great late night dinner and drinks with friendly old cowboys. The next day I hung out at the Ol' Reliable service shop with Fred and the mechanics. They pressure tested the cooling system and discovered a loose hose clamp. That fixed the overheating and major coolant leak, but I have still been boiling coolant and leaking a bit now and then from an unknown source somewhere around -- but not from -- the radiator cap.

See less See more

Save

Big_Texxan

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 30, 2013

supergrover said:
Thank you Thank you Thank you!
I have been having the EXACT same symptoms while driving through Colorado and Utah. I will try your solution tomorrow and will report back.

My Story:

I had a leak while driving across country from Detroit to Provo hauling a travel trailer with a 2001 4.7L Dakota Quad Cab Sport. The truck overheated in the middle of absolutely nowhere, but the coolant was everywhere. A call to AAA brought "Ol' Reliable" towing and service. The owner, Fred, was the nicest guy on the planet. He towed the truck AND the travel trailer, dropped us off at the most fabulous Victorian hotel in Walsenburg, the La Plaza Inn, where we had a great late night dinner and drinks with friendly old cowboys. The next day I hung out at the Ol' Reliable service shop with Fred and the mechanics. They pressure tested the cooling system and discovered a loose hose clamp. That fixed the overheating and major coolant leak, but I have still been boiling coolant and leaking a bit now and then from an unknown source somewhere around -- but not from -- the radiator cap.

Well let me know if this helps man. I had coolant leaking and boiling out of the overflow tank. Looked closely and found that to be the problem. Hope I helped man!!

sent from somewhere where I'm not home on a phone not paying attention to something important like school -_-

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month