 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Car Forum / Dodge / Dodge Trucks / March 20052001 Dodge Ram Coolant
2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 engine Regular Cab Sport. For the last few months my coolant recovery tank empties. My radiator stays full to the top and there are no leaks present. The truck has never overheated. I do not tow or abuse the vehicle. When I do add coolant it is the 50/50 premix (green). It's about a quart or so a month I recall when I do add coolant to the recovery bottle. I let the truck cool down completely before I add any. Just wondered where is the coolant going? Sometimes I can smell antifreeze, but there again I cannot find any leaks or drips underneath the truck each day where I park. Has me stumped. Any help appreciated. > Sometimes I can smell antifreeze, but there again I cannot find any > leaks or drips underneath the truck each day where I park. Has me > stumped. Any help appreciated. Sometimes the thermostat housing leaks a little, and the coolant evaporates from the heat of the engine before it drips on the ground. I had this happen with my '95, and I only noticed it because of the antifreeze smell. Give a good hard look all around your engine, looking for traces of coolant. A leak detection kit (some dye, black light, and glasses) can make this a lot easier - most auto parts places carry these. Oh, and it's best to fill the overflow tank when the engine's hot. As the engine cools, it will want to suck in coolant from the overflow. > > Sometimes I can smell antifreeze, but there again I cannot find any > > leaks or drips underneath the truck each day where I park. Has me [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > Oh, and it's best to fill the overflow tank when the engine's hot. As the > engine cools, it will want to suck in coolant from the overflow. -Tom, I'll check out tomorrow for leaks again. When your thermostat housing leaked...what did you do about it? Just curious. It's towards the top of the engine correct? I didn't notice my recovery bottle leaking any. The times I filled up the bottle, I also took off the radiator cap thinking that would do something different for it. I'll try filling it again with the engine up to proper temp, and leave the cap on. This truck has never had a drain/flush/fill. Coolant looks clean but I understand it's only good for a certain time. The thermostat and hoses are original also. Truck has almost 40,000. Any more advice appreciated. Thanks. > I'll check out tomorrow for leaks again. When your thermostat housing > leaked...what did you do about it? Just curious. Drained a little coolant, pulled it off, cleaned it up real good, and re-installed it with copper RTV. Let it set for a few hours, topped off the coolant, and all was well. > It's towards the top of the engine correct? Yep. Follow the upper radiator hose to the end. > 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 engine Regular Cab Sport. For the last few > months my coolant recovery tank empties. My Mustang did this. Turned out the overflow plastic tank had a small crack in it. Al Ditto w/ my mustang > > 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 engine Regular Cab Sport. For the last few > > months my coolant recovery tank empties. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Al Could be heater element inside the cab. Check for wet rug. Could be head gasket. Check for high oil level and white oil foam. Generally check for deposits of green crud. Steve > 2001 Dodge Ram 1500 5.9 engine Regular Cab Sport. For the last few > months my coolant recovery tank empties. My radiator stays full to the [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > leaks or drips underneath the truck each day where I park. Has me > stumped. Any help appreciated. > Could be heater element inside the cab. Check for wet rug. Could be head > gasket. Check for high oil level and white oil foam. Generally check for > deposits of green crud. -Steve, The rug in the truck has never been wet. I checked the other day on my dipstick and opened the oil fill cap on the valve cover. The dipstick read normal in the safe range. The oil fill cap looked ok with nothing out of the ordinary. Oil probabley has 2,500 miles on it. I added more coolant to the recovery bottle with the engine up to temperature this time. We'll see what happens. I wondered if anybody had any opinions of taking a vehicle to the dealer to have a flush/fill/replace? What other items should be replaced when this is done? I've heard of the radiator cap being replaced. What about the thermostat, hoses, or anything else? Should I stay away from a flush and just do a fill? Wondering what other people do...i've never had this done to the truck before. Thanks. |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.