2001 Dodge Intrepid

I know this was posted about a year ago. That part is called a water outlet, not to be confused with the thermostat housing which is where the lower radiator hose attaches to the engine under/behind the alternator. The water outlet is a 2 piece unit that is hermetically sealed. When it blows, it's best to replace it. They can be had from Autozone for about 40 dollars, and take about 20 minutes to replace. There are 4 bolts that hold it to the intake manifold, and then 2 that hold the front downpipe to it. The seals are rubber o-rings, and come with the new part. What you are seeing is NOT a pressure relief valve, it's a bleeder valve and is used to bleed air out of the cooling system when it has been serviced or filled. Just like bleeding your brakes. No, the thermostat doesn't cause it to fail. Eventually, the adhesive holding the thing together breaks down until the bond can no longer sustain the pressure in the cooling system. When it fails, pop goes the weasel in a cloud of steam.

Also stop immediately if it blows....My friend's blew and he drove 5 miles and broke a rod in the engine. :(

I know this sounds stupid, but it aint. Check your overfill tank (where you fill the water up instead of the actual radiator). The cap if orig dont last overly long, I recently had an issue with my car heating up, took out the thermostat and found it to be working correctly! At the end I found the cap on the overfill tank has a washer which cracks and wears over time, if you bend the rubber back and see cracks, its time to replace, it almost instantly worked, only prob is that its a manufacture part, cant buy cheap at Autozone, its $21.00 and was my issue.

It could be the termostat allowing the car to get hot or you ay have to replace rediator cap. If the rubber under cap is dried out and it's not holding pressure properly the system can overheat as well. I just had this happen on my 2000 Interpid. The part is only available throught the dealer....about $120.00 +/-. The part is a metal pipe with the plastice relief valve box attached. The pipe runs under the intake manifold/plenum to a rubber hose on back of motor. I did it myself to save money. Not a really hard job, but take some time and patience feeding the pipe through.

I have seen the assembly that the pressure valve is attatched to. I agree that you may have to replace that assembly that runs under the manifold to the heater core. If your thermostat is stuck I can see this, but also do a check on the water pump to ensure that it is not going bad and is still keeping flow of fliuds moving throughout the cooling system.

I have a 2004 dodge intrepid 2.7. Once that engine over heats it's done. I have found I have less issues In that area by leaving out the thermostat. And the valve in the front is a system bleeder valve. If you dont make sure all air is out of your cooling system you will have over heating issues bad. Wasnt hard to fix an bleed the system myself.