Well, looks like my instincts were right. I changed the water pump,
thermostat, lower radiator hose, and bypass hose on my '95 Dakota. I
thought 1/2 on the temp gauge was normal, with it dropping slightly
while in motion. Now it runs at 1/4 of the gauge. I thought it was
running too cold until I plugged in my friend's Auto X-ray scanner and
read the temp while at idle at the 1/4 gauge position, and it was at 181
degrees. I have no idea how hot 1/2 the gauge was, but I bet it's the
reason the truck felt a lot faster when it was cold. :)
The pump was pretty banged up... there were big chunks of aluminum
missing from the casting below the impeller, it can't have been very
efficient:
http://www.moparhowto.com/pictures/1995-Dakota/bad_waterpump.jpg
Also found out the tensioner on the serpentine belt is bad, it's seized
so it won't auto-tension. Needs a new belt too. I'll replace that the
same time I replace the pitman and idler arms. More nickel and dime
stuff I guess.
MattB
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