99 coolant problems

OK guys I'll try to keep this as short and accurate as possible... I'm new. 1999 Ram 318 I have this vehicle since new. I've had coolant issues pretty much the life of the truck, poor heat, coolany odors, etc. However, I think we have reached our "boiling point". Recently replaced timing cover due to small gasket leak. Drove truck a couple times, no problems. This weekend I pulled the camper (not the first time) and the nighmare began. The truck overheated a few miles into the trip but the guage never told me that. Extreme boil over. Cooled her down, added a little water and drove it on to the camp, only a few miles.

Once at the camp we noticed it would heat up everytime I drove it but didnt heat up just at idle. Removed upper radiator hose and just a trickle of flow. So, removed the thermostat. The t stat was stuck cause we put it ina can of boiling water, never opened. Buttuned her back up and sure enough, same result...

So there we are in a state park, and borrowed enough tools to pull water pump. The pump appears to be good. ended up having the truck towed home.

So, heres my dilema... no matter what I do, short of replacing the water pump, can I get a good flow throught his thing. Radiator is new. Hoses are good,e tc

My fear is i overheated it with the stuck t stat and blew a head gasket. Could be but I have no water in oil or vise versa, and no steam from exhaust.

End of the day it just continues to puke the water out the radiator.

Are we thinking head gasket, or even worse?

btw- the gauge continues to read 130-150 but when i stop and itas boiling, then the gauge jumps up... wth?

Sounds like you have multiple issues here. The easiest one is a bum temperature sending unit. It's making your gauge read low.

The more difficult issue is the engine itself: how do we know the cooling passages were properly drilled from the factory? That's what we don't know, but that's what I'd be wondering considering this has happened from day one.

Wait, maybe I'm confused.

You said the thermostat is stuck, you didn't replace it, and are surprised you're having overheating problems?

Seems to me like water is staying in the engine and not going through the radiator to cool. Then, when the heat/pressure builds up it blows out the relief valve in the radiator.

Change the thermostat.

Also, if you have a smart phone, download the Torque app, spend $20 on Amazon to get a Bluetooth OBDII sensor, and monitor the engine temp with your phone.

How much should the flow be from upper hose when operating properly? Never been much but now just a trickle... also i have never seen much movement in the radiator. Of course none right now. Just seems a huge circulation issue. No t stat and a functioning water pump should push some serious flow shouldnt it?

I removed thermostat completely...

Oh - got it. I thought you put the faulty thermostat back in.

Maybe you have a clog in the radiator? Or a clog somewhere in the cooling system... You should get a lot more than a trickle!

Your temp sending unit is most definitely faulty and there is also a high likelihood that you have a clog in the system. What i recommend is taking the cooling system apart and checking the flow (with a garden hose) for each component. If the blockage is in the block, I do not know of an easy way to break it up, maybe someone else here does.
As for overheating the motor... So much can go wrong and yet I have seen these 5.2s survive near melting temps, unscathed (ya gotta love a motor that is virtually unchanged in 40 years). Once you get your flow issue resolved, put her back together, watch for any power loss, oil consumption, erratic behavior, etc. from your motor.

Just put the garden hose in the block whete the water pump *** and water shot right out the upper hose. I assume no blockage in block. Same with radiator. Whats the odds we had the belt routed wrong after changing the timing cover and not on the water pump? Grasping straws.... im gonna install a new water pump and leave the tstat out. That would eliminate it down to head gasket maybe. Cant do that for a week cause heading out of town.... thanks everyone. Keep the ideas coming.

Water pump is about the only thing I can think of. Head gasket wouldn't cause a coolant flow issue, that would cause power loss and coolant loss.

Ok so after throwing several hundred bucks at it i think i found my problem.... remember me saying i changed the timing cover? Well as a last check before i was to light it up i checked what little bit of the cover i could see and yep its leaking. Not much but probably enough to cause air in the system therefor constant puking of coolant. Btw i did compression test and each cyl had 120 to 150!

So, you fixed it?

Not yet. Tired of working on it. Ordering a new cover.... im sure thats the problem. 95% sure

Well I hope that's your problem.

I'm honestly surprised you've hung onto the truck as long as you have. Most other people would have dumped it long ago.

Well i bought it from the showroom floor in 1999. Its got 200k hard miles. Been on fire from a fuel rail leak. Ran with no oil pumping about an hour. Been boiling hot a hundred times yet she still purrs like a new honda... just keep patching it cause dont want a car note. Only use it to tow camper and haul stuff occasionally. Still a nice truck. If i sold it i would end up buying someone elses junk so i just keep patching my junk.

just checking did that cover fix the issue?

be glad you were able to buy one of these trucks brand new i'm the second owner of mine, as i was only 12 when mine was made in 2001. If i were you i would go ahead and replace that timing cover along with the waterpump, thermostat, and all hoses and flush the entire system throughouly with CLR.

i wouldn't worry too much about the headgasket, these are cast iron engines and can take a beating compared to newer aluminum that warps (causing the blown headgaskets)