[muthaflaco]

I have a 99 D with the 5.9. I had some problems with the truck overheating last summer, especially when the A/C was on, and really bad when driving on the freeway. Took it to the dealership, and they said the engine was all scaled inside and needed a flush badly. Then they replaced the radiator because the flow was reduced and not cooling efficiently. For shits and giggles I had the A/C evacuated, cleaned, and recharged. Total cost to me: $700.00. The D has run PERFECTLY since.

My brother has an 01 D with the 4.7. He came over today with overheating problems that have been going on for some time. So we checked the hoses, checked for leaks, changed the thermostat (expensive thing @ $27.00 ), changed the upper rad hose, drained the coolant (light brown in color, not milky so HG's are good) and put 1 gal of new 50/50 mix in it. It still overheats. It's 100* here now during the day.

My question is can the 4.7 scale up like the 5.9? The symptoms of his are exactly like mine was a year ago. I recommended the back flush to him that I had done, and for him to get the radiator checked. Maybe I skipped over something....I even checked the fans. Both work normally. What else could I check?

 

[Unnamed]

Well... it seems the consensus on here to fix the overheating 4.7 that's not repaired by a t-stat replacement and flush is to replace the radiator or have it rodded and cleaned (which may not work eiither depending how much corrosion and build up have occured)

See here:
http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62421&page=1&pp=20

Unless of course you have a cracked heater core, in which case you may possibly have 'white smoke' blowing through your vents with no hot air coming out (unless ambient temps are hot... :WHT: ) (NeilF)

Now, on a side note. The 4.7 uses HOAT coolant (thanks CanyonD ) , what type of anti-freeze was it that you put in? It should be orange-ish in color. This HOAT coolant prevents corrosion better and lasts longer.

Some others will chime in with other possibilities.

 

[muthaflaco]

Crap, we put in the green stuff. But it says on the bottle it's for all vehicles. I'll ask him if the vents blow a little white smoke. Thanks man.

 

[Neil F.]

I don't want to rehash the whole HOAT argurment again. HOAT is a long life anti-freeze which is what is currently recommended by Chrysler as are other auto makes recommendind long life anti-freeze. Long life anti-freeze does not provide any cooling benefits over the standard green (shorter life) coolant.

Any engine can get a foulded poorly operating cooling system from weak neglected anti-freeze. Coolant should not be a light brown color.

 

[Unnamed]

OOC can you mix orange and green?

 

[muthaflaco]

I know, you should have seen my face when I looked in the bucket of spent coolant. It looked like pond water. UGH! I think it had boiled a *FEW* times. He just looked at it like it was normal shit to him. The placement of the thermostat is the weirdest place I've ever seen also. But, Chrysler is doing things weird anyway. The batteries on the Cirrus are in the fender...But I digress.

 

[Almond Pale Ale]

OOC can you mix orange and green?

No - bad things happen.

 

[Neil F.]

Do a web few searches for the correct info. The information is out there. I admit I forgot what can go with what. Orange is Dex-Cool which is GM. Yes there was do not mix orange and green but there are coolants out now that say they can mix with any brand.

 

[jet tech]

the 4.7 calls for the ethylene glycol which is the green one

 

[2k2_AtlanticBlu]

They must have changed that at somepoint because my '02 came with the orange stuff from the factory.

Andrew

 

[Hercules]

They must have changed that at somepoint because my '02 came with the orange stuff from the factory.

Andrew

Yes, they did because my '01 has the orange and it clearly states in the factory service manual to ONLY use the orange. I had a run in with my dealer over this when I had a flush and they put green back in.
Long story short, the service manager and I got the Chrysler Engineer for the cooling systems on the phone and he said to use the orange, it was the preferred coolant for the 4.7L. We asked if we could use the green. He said yes you can use it...but its not recommended.
So, from the engineers who designed the cooling system...use ORANGE.

The service manager was actually surprised by the engineers answer...he thought for sure the engineer was going to say they only used the orange for longer maitenance intervals, not because its a better coolant for the 4.7L.

You also can't mix the green and orange, you must flush the coolant system completely if you're switching from green to orange. Plus you must use only distilled water with the orange. Actually you should always use distilled water with any coolant as tap water will cause you're radiator to scale up.

 

[jet tech]

i don't own a copy of the fsm but the owners manual recomends ethylene glycol for the 2000 4.7 .

 

[2k2_AtlanticBlu]

I'd say '01+ would be only the "orange stuff" then.

Andrew

 

[muthaflaco]

Update:

My brother had the truck overheat to the red line of 'HOT'. The engine then shut off on it's own. Scared, he reluctantly took it to the dealership, and was told the following:

You need an engine flush because your engine is scaled inside the passages. You need a new radiator because it has hot and cold spots across the face. We used a lazer thermometer to detirmine this. And finally, your fan relay (the larger one) isn't working.

Total cost $835.00

I told him to just take it in in the first place, but he wanted to fix it himself. It's all good though, I'd hate to have to see him broken down on the side of the road with his GF and their 5 kids....

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll see what coolant they put in. Hercules, you have the number for that Dodge Engineer? I have a feeling my brother might have to call him.

 

[Unnamed]

I wonder why all these people are having overheating problems like this?? I wouldn't think that this should really be a big issue. There's been like 5 posts on this in the last month. Granted, I realize it's the hottest time of the year, but there's got to be a reason that it happens more to some than others.

 

[gramol]

more than likely it was just a bad relay not turning the fan on

 

[Hercules]

Thanks for the replies guys, I'll see what coolant they put in. Hercules, you have the number for that Dodge Engineer? I have a feeling my brother might have to call him.
__________________

Sorry, the service manager called from his office...put the call on speakerphone so I could hear everything. I know he called to Arburn Hills? Michigan. I was wanting to know why it stated in bold print in the Factory Service Manual to only use the orange coolant and not the green. I told the service manager if Chrysler says the green is OK, then its fine with me. To tell you the truth, the service manager and I were surprised when the engineer said to only use the orange. Maybe Chrysler discovered the green was causing problems with the 4.7?

 

[mrvh]

i curred my overheating problem with a burp, after replacing coolant.