I have a 2005 Durango, ~142k miles. The end of May, I had to get the transmission solenoid replaced, which may not be relevant. About 10 days later, the car started overheating when idling. There was a crack on the radiator neck, by the cap, and I had to get the radiator replaced, and the thermostat. The shop said the fan was wobbling, and they replaced the fan clutch as well. The fan was a lot louder than it had been, the mechanic said he had put in a higher performance fan in and maybe that was why, and offered to put in a lower performance one if I wanted. I declined.
Six weeks later, it started overheating while idling again. I brought it back, and the water pump was out. By now I was checking the temperature gauge constantly when idling, and it never quite hit the center until suddenly after 4 weeks, then it suddenly started overheating while idling again. I brought it back again, and they couldn’t find any problem except he said the radiator was about a cup low, and maybe there had been an air bubble.
I’ve been constantly checking the temperature gauge since, and it once again never quite hit middle until 2 days ago, and now suddenly it’s overheating when idling. I checked the coolant level after it had been sitting for a couple hours (and I had only driven it for about 10 minutes so far this morning, before that. I can’t take it in until Monday now, just wondering if there are any ideas out there. I’m afraid there is a blown head gasket or something, but if so, why would it run so well for an extended period, and then suddenly start overheating again, twice now? They haven’t done a compression check.
In case this is relevant, every few days the car will just stall out when coming to a stop, and sometimes the idle seems rough.