04 5.7 Hemi Needs??

[diditmyself]

Just picked up the 04 @150k from a small dealer going out of business.

Its been a jouney already. Found out the cluster had been taped over with electrical tape to hide lights being on.

Was a little shaky between 50-65mph, but running fine for a few days. Now its temping hot after about 30 minutes & the engine light came on after a shirt trip to the auto part store. Coolant in cloudy but not falling in its levels. There is some sort of leak but doesnt seem to be trnasmission or coolant fluid.

I am thinking of starting with water pump & thermostat?

 

[Daw14]

Go to a parts store and have it scanned for codes .

Use the factory recommended coolant.

 

[rzr6-4]

I am thinking of starting with water pump & thermostat?

As someone who has replaced my water pump 3 times, I wouldn't replace it until you have done some more diagnosis.

Coolant full? Properly bled to remove air pockets? Clogged radiator/hoses? As you pointed out, thermostat opening properly?

ONLY use an oem water pump, every aftermarket I've ever used, 2 on my ram and one on my sierra, only lasted a few months. That said, oem will be somewhat expensive. I wouldn't spend the time and money replacing something that *might* fix it, but until you do some more diagnosing it is no more likely to fix your issues than the other 4 things listed.

 

[diditmyself]

Wanted to add this picture of the residue from leak to see if yall can help identify what I may be? Going to try and bleed coolant to see if it may be a simple clog. Will get a scan to see what it’s throwing.

 

[diditmyself]

View attachment 553644Wanted to add this picture of the residue from leak to see if yall can help identify what I may be? Going to try and bleed coolant to see if it may be a simple clog. Will get a scan to see what it’s throwing.

Couple more things to add. Found copper looking sediment as well as sludgy white in the radiator cap. Internet says may be a “stop leak” substance added. Am I looking at a possible head gasket issue here??

 

[jws123]

Most likely your water pump leaking and someone added stop leak

 

[Daw14]

I would bet those streaks are from the weep hole on the bottom of your water pump, they are in just the correct area.
I would be sure to flush everything well, heater core , radiator, and block.

 

[diditmyself]

Flushed radiator and replaced water pump. When refilling coolant radiator burping and overflowing coolant. When truck in heat cranked not getting any heat and temp gauge was still riding high. Now I’m assuming heater core is blocked? Put in new thermostat and not sure it was opening. Getting really stumped and frustrated

 

[jws123]

Flushed radiator and replaced water pump. When refilling coolant radiator burping and overflowing coolant. When truck in heat cranked not getting any heat and temp gauge was still riding high. Now I’m assuming heater core is blocked? Put in new thermostat and not sure it was opening. Getting really stumped and frustrated

nah you still got air in the system takes a few times.

 

[Marshall]

look for bubbles in rad while its running, I am thinking head gasket if you have sludge in rad.
And that will cause overheating
I am thinking any dealer selling a truck with tape on the c e light on dash is a scam artist.
Good luck , hope the water pump fixes it, after you get the air out, there is a neat funnel out that locks into rad that works good from what I see, not that I have one.

 

[pscarbor]

Just picked up the 04 @150k from a small dealer going out of business.

Its been a jouney already. Found out the cluster had been taped over with electrical tape to hide lights being on.

Was a little shaky between 50-65mph, but running fine for a few days. Now its temping hot after about 30 minutes & the engine light came on after a shirt trip to the auto part store. Coolant in cloudy but not falling in its levels. There is some sort of leak but doesnt seem to be trnasmission or coolant fluid.

I am thinking of starting with water pump & thermostat?

Pressure test the cooling system (its easy to do). Dodge uses radiators with plastic sides glued to the core. The glue fails and you have a split in the side of the radiator. I had this issue on both my Ram 1500's (06 and 09). I replaced the radiators with all aluminum three row tig welded ones, available on Amazon for about $250. No more overheating issues.

 

[4JMS]

The first few years of the hemi's had a problem with the timing chain cover, which forms the back wall of the water pump, developing pits, and then leaking, along the bottom edge where the water pump/pump gasket seal. The stop leak that you are seeing in the radiator neck, and and under the engine, probably clogged the radiator and heater core(no fun changing that!), and possibly caused the thermostat to stick shut.

 

[4JMS]

When draining a cooling system that's had stop leak added, you need to run clean water into it while it's draining, otherwise the stop leak left in it as the coolant drains, will harden as it gets exposed to air.

 

[4JMS]

Heater core may be bypassed if it leaked before you bought truck. Dash has to be removed, a/c discharged and disconnected, and the entire black plastic air duct system under the dash removed, to replace heater core. Have you verified that the engine is actually hot, with a temp gun? The coolant temp sensor may be defective, if it's been coated with stop leak. A cheap infrared temp gun can be a big help diagnosing this.

 

[diditmyself]

Thanks for the continued help yall.

Update:
Replaced pump and have been able to drive my usual 50-100 miles/day for work. No issues with overheat or spikes on temp gauge.
Still noticing intermittent light to medium shaking while between 55-75 mph. Potentially some throttle lag issues at highway speeds but new to Hemi so not sure if that’s out of norm for the age?
Check light scanned for speed sensor which I know is out but that was the only code. Have read that can eventually cause tran issues?

 

[Marshall]

I would have a real good look at the u joints and splines in drive shaft
Try rotating all the tires, may change the shaking and check wheel bearing at the time
Poor tire may cause a shake, or balance off