[Kelleytoons]

I suppose I could ask this on a general car forum, but since my beloved 2000 Durango has served me faithfully these many years (150K miles) I thought I'd start here.

Red lined in temp gauge traced back to a bad radiator, hoses, water pump and heat core (when it goes it goes). Dealership replaced all the above after assuring me the engine was fine (my concern was that spending a few thousand to fix something when it needed more repairs wasn't worth it, no matter how much I love this truck). After driving less than 50 miles it redlined again, with white smoke/steam coming from the engine. Towed to dealership which is now hemming and hawing and saying that perhaps the headers have... melted? (I'm not really a car engine person so forgive me for not knowing proper terminology).

They are going to now replace the radiator again and see what happens, but my concern is the headers are damaged and I won't know it until the ticking time bomb goes off some time... probably most likely after any chance of disputing the charge on my credit card has elapsed. Anyone have any ideas on what I can do now other than pray?

 

[Bryali]

If your headers are....melted....then you would likely see puddles of molten metal in your driveway/garage. I'm assuming your D has cast iron exhaust manifolds (the OEM answer for aftermarket headers), which would mean that your exhaust temps are exceeding sustained temps of 2800*F. Since that's not possible on an gasoline-powered internal combustion engine, I think you either misunderstood what the dealership tech was telling you or your tech is a complete moron.

I'm assuming when you say "red line" you're talking about the water temp exceeding the red line on your gauge? Or are your asking about the engine RPM's reaching the redline of 5500-6000? If your water pump failed then that would cause high water temps that would eventually boil over (resulting in the steam you may have seen). I'm assuming there would be a check engine light on the dash? That would mean there's a failure code. If you can read that code then that might help diagnose the problem--auto parts stores like Autozone, O'Reilly Auto, Advance, etc will typically read those codes for free, FYI.

 

[FINELINETOYS]

White smoke coming from engine is most likely due to blown head gaskets,or a cracked head thus intern burning your water/antifreeze from radiator,or at least trying too. I have never heard of headers melting,most likely the so called mechanic/tech is a idiot and only learned how to read in trade school.

 

[FSTDANGO3]

Sounds like blown head gaskets from overheating
STEVE

 

[tomk]

Yeah, sounds like head gaskets or (hopefully not) a cracked head..

 

[MWeed]

x3 on head/head gaskets. You would have gotten well over the temp an engine, much less melt manifolds. Whoever made that suggestion to you is no mechanic. There is no way for that to happen

 

[dizzyD]

Welcome,
I've heard issues with over heated/ melted Cats causing engine temps to rise, but that also causes BAD performance and other engine run issues which will be very noticeable

 

[Kelleytoons]

Okay, so perhaps "melted" was my choice of words and not theirs -- but head gaskets sounds about right (melted, blown, or otherwise not usable).

Any ideas what we'd be looking for in terms of cost of repair? I assume this isn't a trivial issue.

 

[Gator65]

My 2001 had the same issue, blown headgasket. When your water pump failed you overheated and blew your head gasket. hopefully didnt damege the heads, As for the headers I really doubt your headers are damaged at least mine where fine. I believe i paid around 150 dollars for a head gasket set from autozone and another 30 dollars in beer and had a friend do it for me. Took him a half day to do it. Well maybe i should have held off on serving beer till he was done LOL.

 

[Kelleytoons]

Well, they replaced the radiator they put in and said the Durango is fine -- ran it for an hour with no issues. We drove it about 15 miles home and all seems well.

So... the question is, does anyone think the head gasket or headers are damaged? Would it run fine now if they were? Or is this a time bomb ticking away just ready to blow?

As it stands now, I don't think we'll use this vehicle much anymore -- perhaps 100 miles a month. So if I can get even 5K more miles out of it I will be happy. But I'd love to hear anyone's opinion here if they think that would even be a realistic possibility (and, yes, I realize without having looked at it you don't know much, but you know more than *I* do, or at least more than my dealer is willing to tell me).

 

[Bryali]

When I said above that iron begins to melt at 2800*F, let me put that in perspective: the exhaust temperature on jet engines in cruise flight typically run less than 1700*F and high-compression diesel truck engines average in the 1200*-1400*F range. The iron manifolds on a gas engine will begin to glow red at around 1600*F when the engine is run at WOT, like on an engine dyno or in a race when the engine is being pushed HARD. Normal driving should not see more than around 1100-1200*F

You would be able to tell if they were CRACKED by listening for the sound coming out of the header instead of the exhaust pipe and reduced power. Your exhaust gaskets, if they're cardboard or paper then they MIGHT have been damaged, but again, you'd be able to hear it. If they're metal gaskets (typically stainless steel)then the exhaust temperatures would have to get I don't know what other type of damage you are expecting of your headers, but I can't stress enough that cast iron exhaust manifolds would not melt without you knowing it....without a shadow of a doubt....I don't think the headers are a major concern.

The head gaskets would concern me, though. Take a look at your coolant and the rest of your cooling system. You may look into having a compression test done on the motor by a mechanic that you trust. Have you checked the oil? If it looks like chocolate milk then you have a leak, which is normally a blown head gasket. If the oil is good and the cylinders are all operating at their expected compression then I wouldn't worry too much about the head gasket.....for right now, anyway. If you're starting to see any loss in compression then I would have the heads pulled to replace the gaskets and take a look at the pistons and the rest of the block for any other damage.

 

[Kelleytoons]

Okay, we've (finally) taken the D back and I have a follow up question (or four).

The dealership says the engine is okay (then again, they also said they fixed it properly the first time. Sigh). They ran it for an hour, sitting in the shop, to make sure all was well, and then drove it around a bit. Since we got it back (last Thursday) we've driven it maybe a total of 30 miles and it seems fine. Seems. However, the oil doesn't look like chocolate milk (at least not the kind of chocolate milk I used to have as a kid) but does look like chocolate -- dark chocolate (Mmmmm, this is making me hungry). I know I did need an oil change but is that the warning sign I should have been looking for?

Let's say the milk test isn't conclusive -- I keep driving and all seems well or should I have a mechanic check this out?

And assuming for a moment I do have a blown head gasket (or gaskets) what would a *reasonable* shop (not my dealership -- ain't going there again) charge for such a fix? Just a ball park figure would be helpful.

(Sorry for all the questions -- at this point in time if I can even get 5K more miles out of this it will last me my lifetime, but I'm not sure I want to spend a lot more money to get to that figure).