New Guy with Cooling System Questions

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Fork501

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Hello, all! I came across your great forum and was hoping that I could get some help with some problems that I'm having.

A buddy of mine came to me with his 2003 Ram 1500 v6 because the engine was overheating. I've never worked on a Ram before and thought it would be fun. Since he has 130k miles on it, we decided that it would probably be a good idea to change out the thermostat and coolant, since the only maintenance he ever does to it is an oil change and had the ball bearings replaced a few years ago.

I put in the thermostat and now it appears that the system is worse. We managed to hit the redline on the heat gauge today, which has never happened before.

My question: Is there a certain way that the thermostat needs to be inserted? I know that you place it with the spring side to the engine, which I know I did, but I saw that it has a vent on it, which I was stupid and didn't pay attention to the last one in there. Should the vent be on the top or bottom? If I were to accidentally place it on the bottom, would it cause the system to overheat?

My second question:

I tried to bleed the cooling system by opening the radiator cap and letting the truck run. I don't know if it's circulating through the engine or not. The bleeder screw appears to be a hex key, but I can't figure out the size. Any clue what the size may be?

Thanks in advance. Sorry that I'm coming in as a brand new guy with some drawn out questions, but I'd really like to help my buddy out.

I tried searching the forum and can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for. Feel free to link me to some other threads if these have been answered in the past.

Thanks in advance!
 

HolyRamBatman

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When you are trying to burp the system do you have the front of the truck on an uphill slope?
I believe the vent goes towards the rear but I am not 100% sure.

Almost everyone comes to this site looking to fix/mod their ride. No need to apologize.

Good luck
 

Redtruck-VA

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The vent is placed up and if it has a loose rivet in it I usually remove it. As stated, raise the front and let it idle with the heater on and squeeze the hoses to try to unlock any air trapped in the system. I don't know about the V6, but this is what is usually done with the hemi. good luck..
 
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Fork501

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Thanks, all!

I meant to update this thread and forgot to.

I went back over on Sunday and took the thermostat back out to see where I placed the vent, it was at 12:00, as I had been reading in various places to put it. So I was good on that front.

I ended up changing the coolant to DexCool and got the truck back to where it was before I started. The Thermostat didn't help the cooling system at all, but at least it can be driven again.
 

dodge dude94

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I don't think you should be using DexCool. You should only be using HOAT-type coolant such as the Mopar stuff from the dealer or Zerex G-05.
 

Redtruck-VA

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Are you losing any coolant? If so you might want to do a hydrocarbon test. If not, then look for a circulation issue such as a faulty pump. If it over heats at idle and cools at highway speed then it is likely a clutch fan problem.
 

MegaMouseGW

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Sounds like either the water pump has gone out, or the radiator is stopped up. Best bet is to go to a radiator shop and have them see what the problem is. Changing out the radiator is easy, not so easy for the water pump though.
 

prouddodgeman

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please someone help me out

hello you guys im new to this forum hope you guys can help me. i have 96 dodge ram 5.9 360 v8 i have had the truck for 1.5 years and ever since i have owned it i have had gurgling in my heater core so i finally broke down and replaced the heater core two days ago. also i have had not rock hard radiator hoses (top and bottom) but hard enough where when i squeeze it i can only make dents in the pipe not squeeze it close. anyways after i changed the heater core i didn't hear anything from it (gurgling) until the next day after work and my hoses went back to being firm again. i burped the radiator again today i went to town with it didn't get any firm hoses however my temp shot up from 195 to 215-220 then made its way back to 195 and stayed there and the hoses where still not tight. i drove my truck again a few hours later and it never overheated again but my hoses stayed firm like always before. my question is this normal with the hoses and do any of you guys have any suggestions? i have had people tell me it could be the head gasket but i have no signs of a bad head-gasket and i have had the firm hoses and the gurgling heater core for almost two years and it has never over heated before except for today. thanks guy have a good one.
 

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