Make sure the thermostat is good. I had one bad out of the box one time. From then on I always checked by putting the thermostat in a pot of boiling water and making sure it opened before installing. The few 3.3 head gasket failures I have seen have all been external, meaning the coolant was allowed to leak outside of the engine at the joint between the head and block. I have seen compression/exhaust leaking into the cooling system on 2.2's. You can detect it by using a tail pipe sniffer at the radiator cap opening. The 3.3's can be difficult to bleed. Make sure you have all the air out of the system.
1 - 3 of 19 Posts
You can also try drilling a small hole, 1/16", in the outer edge of the thermostat and then re-installing the thermostat with the hole at 12:00. This will allow air/gases to bleed through the thermostat rather than building up behind it preventing it from opening. I've never had to do this on a 3.3 V6 but it works well on the 2.2 I4.
There can be a problem with the bottom end if coolant got into the oil/bearings after the head gasket blew.
1 - 3 of 19 Posts
- This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Allpar Forums
A forum community dedicated to Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, AMC owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Recommended Communities
Join now to ask and comment!
