Radiator over heating and interior heating

[MissMindy]

Hi everyone. I am new to this forum. In the past of have come here for information and have found this a great resource. I have a 2009 AWD 3.5L. It has 116 000 kilometres.

I have had multiple issues with this vehicle and unfortunately I have had less than pleasant dealings with the dealership. More unfortunately, my regular go to mechanic friend, who I trust implicitly, has had serious health issues and has been unavailable. Last spring I began to have issues with consistent starting. Two dealerships and two private mechanics later the problem was not solved. I always thought it was the starter but all 4 said it was the battery, which I had already replaced, twice. One dealership said it was due to the ignition recall. At that time a leak in the rad was noted. I chose not to fix it at that time as I was not driving the journey until the other issue was fixed.

November. My mechanic friend is ok to have a look. Starter fixed within a couple hours. Being leary, against his advice, "Stop Leak" type product is put into radiator.... All is fine until last week I notice heat only on the driver side, engine light comes on. Top up rad, engine light goes off but one sided heat issue remains. (I consider heat issue to possibly be a control dial/electric issue). Start googling and seems like it could be complicated. Continue driving vehicle with eye on rad. Had one overflow after filling. Drive a few more days, short trips. Drive for over an hour doing errands and another overflow. Within minutes an inconsistent knocking/ticking coming from behind ignition/heater area. Stops when heater is off. Google and find blend actuator with picture of white plastic gears. Sounds like cogs breaking, I think. Next morning check rad and top up. Within minutes of driving engine light is on and temp gauge climbs quickly. Home and parked. Everyone and their dog has suggestions. I'm not very smart when it comes to vehicles and I can't bother my mechanic when he is this ill. However, I know from this forum that people continue driving their vehicles with broken blend doors. I can't change the rad so it will have to go somewhere. Before I do that I need exact answers. Clearly, the last time telling everyone that "something is draining the battery" wasn't enough. I'm not sure what type of questions to ask. I'm thinking of starting by changing the thermostat. I don't want to drive it anywhere......

Any help would be appreciated!

[jkeaton]

Welcome to the forum and sorry for your issues. Lets try and address one thing at a time. As for the overheating, when you "top it off" are you using straight water or the recommended mixture of the correct coolant per Chrysler? Assuming you are using just water, that could be a source of the overheating. The stop leak could have gotten into the heater core and clogged/partially clogged it. At this point I would be more concerned with getting the cooling system fixed, radiator, etc. as continuing to drive when it is constantly overheating can cause serious damage. Where is the fluid going? Is the radiator leaking that bad where you need to constantly top it off or are you burning it, which is indicative of a blown head gasket?

[OhareFred]

Stop Leak is the worst thing in the world and should be outlawed. More than likely all you did was gubk up your heater core and still have a rad leak. BEFORE you replace/ repair the rad, have the cooling system flushed throughly. Get all that crap out, then fix the rad the correct way. Once the cooling system is repaired you can see if you still have a heating issue. Keep doing what you are doing youll have an engine issue. Good luck!

[dhh3]

I agree with the above. When you are filling the radiator, are you putting it in the overflow tank? If the overflow tank is empty (maybe cracked), when the engine warms up and the thermostat opens, some of the coolant will be pushed out of the hot engine and goes to the overflow tank. When the engine cools, the coolant is then sucked back into the radiator. Look at your owners manual and see what kind of coolant is recommended for your engine. My 3.6 takes a specific kind, and if I add the wrong kind, the owner's manual says to drain all of the coolant and replace with the correct kind. If you do get a flush, I would replace the thermostat.

Edited January 14, 2016 by dhh3

[larryl]

Stop Leak=Stop everything

It has probably sealed up every passage with gunk

[MissMindy]

Ahah, stop leak, I knew I'd get grief for that choice, however, a new rad at that point was good money after a lot of bad....

I'm using a pre mixed coolant and I will check with my manual on specs. I add it to the overflow tank. I live in Canada, it's cold here.... Can't use just water. I'm not sure where it is "going" as it didn't appear to be leaking for some time and my tip off that it was low was when the heater wouldn't warm up. The original leak was a slow drip but there was always evidence that it was dripping on the driveway....

I never drove it during this time as it was unreliable, the over heating issue is new.

What I found confusing was that after the first time I topped it up, it over flowed, which I understand maybe I put too much in, however, I don't understand why it would overflow again a week later? Would that be because it was a warmer day and I drove it longer?

I'm not sure about driving it anywhere as it is now. If I add more coolant, up to the cold line, is that wise? Could yesterday's engine light issue be due to too little coolant? Im worried that there is a complete blockage somewhere from that crap. If the engine sucks the coolant in, is that a sign it isn't blocked?

[jkeaton]

You would need to get the code read to see if it has any relation to the overheating issue.

[bramfrank]

Sounds a lot like what killed my LHS which also had a 3.5 V6.

If you don't have a blockage (a blockage wouldn't be likely to leak coolant) you might have a water pump issue (unless it is spilling out the gaskets, you shouldn't be losing coolant because of this either) or a cracked block, leaking hoses or gaskets.

You may have a blown head gasket and your coolant may be going out the exhaust or into your oil (I hope not - coolant kills bearings, rings and seals). Exhaust may also be displacing coolant from the head which would make coolant go out the overflow.

Check the oil color - if it is a cloudy/milky color you have your answer. Check the exhaust for condensed coolant, too. You can get both fluids checked for contaminants.

[2late4u]

i think she needs to take it into a component mech and let him tell her what is wrong as i don't think with the info any one on here can point to a single mech problem without seeing the vehicle.

[larryl]

^^^^^^^^ best advice so far........tough to fix something on a forum

[jkeaton]

All we can do is guess.

[MissMindy]

I will check the oil and exhaust when I get home today. I will add that I noticed a very loud lifter tick when I started it the other day. It went away once it warmed up but it was more pronounced than I ever recall hearing. Keep in mind it's very cold here and I frequently use remote start.

We are also getting a bit over my head here. I have a fairly knowledgeable friend coming over this aft to help. Thank you for all your help so far! Will keep you posted.

[dhh3]

The engine sucking the coolant back into the radiator is a sign that it is working properly, but not necessarily a sign that there is no blockage. Can you see any evidence of where the coolant is leaking? As mentioned, the water pump is a good place to start. If it is a blown head gasket, but the leak is towards the inside on the engine block, it may evaporate before you see the leak. And, if it's towards the outside and ends up on an exhaust header, again it may evaporate. If the leak is inside the engine block, then you are burning it and would go out with the exhaust. Does your engine seem to run properly?

I agree with the above. It is difficult to be an armchair mechanic!

[MissMindy]

Filled the reservoir tank to cold level. Let engine run for 35-40. A friend was here and said the system did everything it was supposed to do. The coolant went into the engine, hoses pressured up, fan went on. Engine was running fine. Oil is clear. No leaks anywhere. However, no heat at all to interior. When you change the setting from floor, defrost, etc. you can hear the air flow change to that area. Cold air only. The temp gauge ended up a 7/8 and a bit of steam came out of the overflow. Turned the car off. Restarted and engine light was off again. Also, there is a hose that runs back towards the vehicle cabin, smaller hose, it was very hot.

I don't understand how a heat issue is effecting everything. Is it safe to drive?

[OhareFred]

Do you have third row seats with temp controls in the rear? If so you have a seperate heater core for the rear, BUT that has nothing to do with the overheating. Could be a thermostat, water pump, blockage, or blow head gasket. Bite the bullett, you are going to have to take it to a competent mechanic who can properly diagnose what the issue is. He can tell you if its safe to drive. Can't do it from Chicago over the internet.

[OhareFred]

HARDLY! Im wrong all the time! Once in awhile I get lucky and get it right.....lol

[casey sohc]

hi i had almost the same problem with my 2009 at 172000km....the engine had a cracked head...that overheated the overflow bottle and broke it...so far i have replaced the overflow bottle because you cant fix it no matter what you use for glue...fiberglass...urethane...silicone...nothing works....anyway i did end up changing the engine. its a known issue these engines much like the G.M. uplander are designed with profits in mind not the customer..and just don't last..as for the starter issue...good luck nobody else has ever fixed one but its not the battery or the starter they are very obvious when they die.... some are the ignition passlock system and the others are the neutral range selector in the transmission..