My radiator gurgles

Asked by Amanda Apr 28, 2014 at 12:43 PM about the 2002 Dodge Durango SLT 4WD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2002 dodge Durango and
the radiator started to gurgle and it
tries to over heat . I shut it off before
it got to hot . There is nothing coming
out of the exhaust so I don't know if I
can completely rule out head gasket.
But when I tried to start it back up it
shook and hesitated could this have
been because it was still hot and was
telling the sensor that ? Please help

5 Answers

6,935

There are two ways that the water can go if the head gasket blows, in the exhaust like you said but the other way is into the oil, so check if the oil has a creamy color or smells of anti frees. Also check for leaks under the truck you could have a bad hose and they usually go bad where the clamp is so look at those . you could also have a water pump starting to go bad then you would get the coolant out on front of the engine and leaking down. You could also have a stuck thermostat you can take that out and put it in boiling water and if it opens, if it is open when cold it is stuck open and needs to be replaced but that would only cause the engine to warm up slower but not causing the radiator to gurgle. Always start on the cheaper things so start on the hoses. make sure you have enough coolant in it and if you need to drive it have extra coolant with you so you can top it off. make sure you don´t over heat it cause you have aluminum heads and you can kill them very easy with over heating and if you have the 4,7 l engine it is even more sensitive.

2 people found this helpful.

Wut are the main thangs I need to put after n need to know really important

100

Well first off all these ppl pointing towards a bad head gasket for no apparent reason. Can easily pull oil dipstick and the coolant dipstick to check if the 2 are mixing at all. One of these is probably the issue just depends how it overheats... *Make sure elextric fan turns on which u can turn a/c on to see. If not it will cause it to overheat while just sitting in hot weather. * If the engine is getting hot and you step on the peddle to increase rpms and the temp doesnt slowly go back down that's either waterpump or thermostate. If it goes down you know those are good. For example if your on a interstate it should stay at a good temp. * You should hear the fan clutch working it is pretty loud. If not need new one. *Usually obvious if youre are leaking coolant from radiator or hose so not going to address that. All of these are easy to change on these durangos. I could change the fan clutch, electric fan, thermostat, water pump, radiator all in an hr or so. No big deal. All of my cooling parta on my durango have a lifetime warranty so that is the nice thing about getfing a new part frim the part store. If one foea bad i take it off and get another one free of charge. Durango stays at perfect temp. Over 200k miles. Never been in the shop.

100

I cant believe someone suggest to take your durango has a bad head or block just because it overheats. How or why would you just assume that and to advise to just send it to a shop to have it pressure checked those are not first steps to take at all unless you like wasting $$$$$$. Like wow. It would most likely be any of the cooling parts before a head gasket or cracked head. Check the dipsticks and see if they are mixing it's that simple. I would bet money that if it overheates while ddiving it was either thermostat or water pump. Easy fixes.

I have a 2002 dodge durango 4.7. We figured out it had a sucking thermostat. We were on a trip. We kept putting water in it, finally it died while on the interstate and would NOT restart. There is NO water in the oil but water in the exhaust. And it wont start. It will turn over but not start. What does that mean??

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