95' Dodge Dakota, '97 LHS Problems

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Warya - 27 Apr 2006 06:19 GMT

My 1995 Dodge Dakota has suddenly started overheating and it doesn't seem
like there's any coolant getting through the engine. I just noticed this for
the first time tonight on the way home from work.. Funny thing is, it
started happening immediately after we lost the engine in my wife LHS for a
simlar reason. It seems that her radiator became clogged or something
because her engine completely overheated and there was no indication of
impending failure from either the gauges or the fluids in the LHS until
after the engine had thrown a rod. Only then did the water/coolant temp
gauge rise above normal. The car started knocking on while we were out of
town, and by the time we drove the 40 miles home, it was too late.

At least with my Dakota the temp gauge is indicating an overheating problem.
I'm think Thermostat, Could having less than a 1/4 tank of gas be an issue?
I just dropped below a 1/4 tank yesterday, and discovered this problem on
the way home tonight.

If any one has any idea of whats going on on either, or can tell me where
the Thermostat is located on my Dakota, or an donate an engine so that my
wife can keep campaigning to win Monique's F.A.T. Chance, Users Choice
Awards(Hopefully to jumpstart her modelling career. Please help as it a
dream of her's to become a model like her grandmother. You can vote for her
by following the instructions found at http://monique.blip.tv/file/740 ),the
help would be greatly appreciated.

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Advocate - 27 Apr 2006 16:17 GMT

> My 1995 Dodge Dakota has suddenly started overheating and it doesn't seem
> like there's any coolant getting through the engine. I just noticed this
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> gauge rise above normal. The car started knocking on while we were out of
> town, and by the time we drove the 40 miles home, it was too late.

I don't know about your Dakota, but the reason your LHS crapped out wasn't
because of overheating; that step came at the end of the engines life once
your engine suffered catastrophic failure and the coolant found a path to
escape under pressure... after you had abused it driving 40 miles with the
engine knocking.

When you hear a loud knocking in the future, I'd suggest you pull to the
side of the road, shut the engine off and put on the four way flashers. The
same goes for any idiot lights or gauges reading in the *danger* zone. My
Dad passed that information on to me when I first began to drive in 1970.

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Steve - 27 Apr 2006 18:44 GMT

> It seems that her radiator became clogged or something
> because her engine completely overheated and there was no indication of
> impending failure from either the gauges or the fluids in the LHS until
> after the engine had thrown a rod. Only then did the water/coolant temp
> gauge rise above normal. The car started knocking on while we were out of
> town, and by the time we drove the 40 miles home, it was too late.

Oh please! You are NOT describing an engine that overheated and then
threw a rod. You're describing an engine that gave a warning sign of a
rod bearing failing, and that was ignored and the car flogged
mercilessly onward 40 miles to its death. Once the rod went through the
block, I can certainly believe it overheated! Why have you now (twice)
posted that it overheated first? Is there some sign of overheating that
you haven't told us about?

> At least with my Dakota the temp gauge is indicating an overheating problem.
> I'm think Thermostat, Could having less than a 1/4 tank of gas be an issue?
> I just dropped below a 1/4 tank yesterday, and discovered this problem on
> the way home tonight.

No, 1/4 tank of gas can't be an issue.

1) Check the obvious- is there coolant in the radiator, or is it low?
Don't just check the overflow/recovery tank, check the RADIATOR. If
there's a leak in the system, it may not draw coolant back into the
radiator from the overflow tank and the radiator can be empty while the
overflow tank is full.

2) Check to be sure that the guage is correct- is the engine REALLY
overheating

3) The usual suspects: thermostat, waterpump, air trapped in system,
clogged radiator, collapsed lower hose, radiator cap not holding
pressure, etc.

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Bill Putney - 28 Apr 2006 11:28 GMT

> My 1995 Dodge Dakota has suddenly started overheating and it doesn't seem
> like there's any coolant getting through the engine. I just noticed this for
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
> by following the instructions found at http://monique.blip.tv/file/740 ),the
> help would be greatly appreciated.

Quit wasting our time. You're posting crap just to hear yourse;f talk.
You don't learn from your experience nor from the advice of others
that has already been given. Troll?

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

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Joe - 05 May 2006 06:05 GMT

It seems that her radiator became clogged or something

> because her engine completely overheated and there was no indication of
> impending failure from either the gauges or the fluids in the LHS until
> after the engine had thrown a rod. Only then did the water/coolant temp
> gauge rise above normal. The car started knocking on while we were out of
> town, and by the time we drove the 40 miles home, it was too late.

You missed it here, bigtime. The engine didn't throw a rod from being hot,
without you noticing any "warning" signs. It doesn't work that way. It got
hot because you drove it 40 miles without any lubrication.

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