I can tell you from personal experience. My daughter borrowed my wife's Volvo 850 Turbo for a drive to her new college campus 200 miles north. About half way there, the thermostat stuck closed (as determined by forensic analysis). The Volvo had no idiot lights, only a temp gauge - she didn't notice it was heating up. She just kept driving it until it quit. She melted the pistons, heads and EVEN THE BLOCK (so badly that it would have been rejected as a core). Bottom line, I spend about $5,000 to have used engine put into it. I sold it not too long after that. How much would a new thermostat have cost? About $25, according to the mechanic who did the work.

Make sure they put one in.

Neil

 

cool, thanks. im deffinatly watching my temp gauge very close from now on. hopefully i get my truck back soon

 

A T-STAT is very cheap and not hard to install. For less than $10.00 at most plus minimal labour costs, It's a cheap investment.

FRAM QUOTE "You can pay a little now or ALOT later"

Tell them don't be skimpish and do it RIGHT the first time or they will be putting in a new motor when it overheats again.

I know I would make sure it needed a motor a second time it overheated if they don't replace the stat, CUZ if they screw up and don't fix it right, they're liable for damages and I'ld make sure there was some damage.l

 

lol, i thought about driving it a little with it over heating just to see if i can get me a new engine or hey maybe even that 6-speed i always wanted... but that was too risky

 

6-speed would be on your dime unless you convinced Dodge to buy back your truck. Even then, would still be on your dime. If the motor overheats and blows up because of something they did wrong, then they are held liable. Can't hold you accountable if you didn't see the "SHUT OFF ENGINE NOW" light (I heard this used to be a feature on 80s GM cars).

At least it's a Cummins, so it doesn't need a factory "REPLACE ENGINE NOW" light. Mazda RX-7: The only car ever produced with a "REPLACE ENGINE NOW" light. Alright, it was actually a low coolant light, but in most case the two were synonymous.

 

i just got my truck back tonight and they replaced the thermostat. they said when they replaced the water pump it must have tripped the thermostat or somthing... i dunno. so far its not overheating, thanks for your help everyone
Eric

 

all that would be covered under warrenty, even if they had to replace the engine...... right?
Dealer said everything is covered unless it can be proved to mods.

 

6-speed wouldn't be under warranty he has an automatic in there. Yes, everything else should be covered under warranty unless you touched (modified) it. This is why my rule is NO TOUCHY TRUCKY until warranty is gone! Want to keep it so that I can turn it back into exactly the truck it was when I got it, at least until it's got over 100k on it. 2k down, 98k to go?

 

yea, my truck is completley stock with the exception of my gooseneck hitch for my horse trailer that im sure they would probably blame that on if it came down to the point of engine replacement... but other than that if you follwed the manual and shut it down when the check gauges light came on and still had engine damage it would all be covered...