Cooling system issues

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
Hello everyone, im new to this so please bear with me. I have a 2006 ram 1500 with a 5.7 hemi in it. The last couple of days ive had some cooling system issues. It started with a pinhole leak in the radiator. I bought alumaseal stopleak until i could replace the radiator in a week, and it stopped the leak. However, i have an over heating problem now. The first start of the day seems to have the worst problem. It gets almost to the red line if i dont turn my heater on. After that it fluctuates between the middle line and 3/4 to hot, regardless of my driving distance or even if the ac is on. I want to replace the radiator and t stat hoping that will alleviate the issue. Has anyone ever experienced something like this? The autozone guy was adamant out wasn't because of the stop leak since heater and everything else still worked. Im kind of at a loss. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 

Ajwalk2008

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Posts
411
Reaction score
92
Location
Springfield, il
Ram Year
2005
Engine
Hemi 5.7
Any stop leak additives can become a pain in the ass. Did you do a system flush when you installed the new radiator?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
OP
E

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
No i didn't flush the system. The coolant looked clean and free of any debris or miscoloring. I bought the truck in july they said the coolant had been flushed and filled recently but im not sure thats true.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 

Ajwalk2008

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2016
Posts
411
Reaction score
92
Location
Springfield, il
Ram Year
2005
Engine
Hemi 5.7
I personally never have liked stop leak products. Coolants not too expensive. Would flush is any way since you added the stop leak


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

RonJon '06

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Posts
3,372
Reaction score
1,183
Location
Southern Minnesota
Ram Year
2014, 1985
Engine
6.7, 360
You probably just have air in the system from changing the radiator. Park the truck on an incline with the radiator being the highest point then start the truck with the radiator cap off and let it come up to temp. After it cools down try squeezing the upper and lower hoses to get any remaining air out of the system.
 
OP
OP
E

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
How would i go about flushing out the whole cooling system and not just the radiator?

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 
OP
OP
E

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
Ronjon06 i tried That exact method and it was working until it started getting too warm and coolant started to overflow with the rad cap off. Bubbles were coming out little by little up to that point

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 

RonJon '06

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 2, 2014
Posts
3,372
Reaction score
1,183
Location
Southern Minnesota
Ram Year
2014, 1985
Engine
6.7, 360
Well that would be my guess, that there's still air in the system. It's a fairly common problem.

I guess there's a bleeder plug on the water pump that's supposed to be removed when initially adding coolant back into the system (I've never used it). You could try draining the system and refilling it following the proper procedure. Otherwise I'd just keep trying to top off the radiator after cycling the engine from hot to cold.
 
OP
OP
E

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
RonJon06 thank u for your help im changing the t stat today. Ill try to burp it after i change it out.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 
OP
OP
E

eddie_money86

Junior Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2016
Posts
6
Reaction score
2
Ram Year
2006
Engine
5.7 hemi
Update: sorry for the long post. today after work i changed the t stat (oem) and the upper radiator hose. I drained the radiator before i started. The t stat and housing had a bunch of that stop leak all over it. So after installing new parts i topped off with coolant and started to burp the system. The engine started over heating and the heater was blowing cold air. I put the rad cap back on, turned the truck on and it was still going up in temp. I turned the truck off and did a no no. With a big beach towel i opened the rad cap. It released a ton of air. I heard the upper rad hose making like a slurping sound and it started to get hot. Im assuming i had a huge air bubble or i created some sort of vacuum in the system. After that i put a bit more coolant and turned the truck on. Voila! Now the heater blows hot air and the temp gauge only goes from right in the middle to about the width of the needle lower. It used to stay right below so maybe a couple bubbles remain or it may need topping off once system is cool? Anyhow i hope thats the end of my problems with the cooling system. Thank you everyone for the help. I appreciate it.

Sent from my LGLS990 using Tapatalk
 
Top