Leaking coolant i put a thermostat on my 94 dodge spirit an i got a leak from somewhere else that i no where close to the themostat. its leaking from somewhere from around the belts. i got under and look to see if i could locate the leak but i just seen it dripping form the lip of the oil pan, not saying that the oil pan is leakin but its leaking on it from some other location what do you think?

Dodge Dakota Coolant Leak Repair - Including Bypass ...

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lhfurJVzcM
Aug 11, 2012 - Uploaded by mreinsmith Dodge Dakota Coolant Leak Repair - Including Bypass Hose, ....yup my 2000Dakota had I leaking bypass I put in New water pump thinking ..... Dodge Durango 4.7 coolant, thermostat, and auxiliary water pump replacement.

have a pressure test done on the coolant system . The leak at the back of the motor will be from a rusted welsh plug and if it is close to the fire wall will require the motor to be pulled for repairs because of the lack of room

CHECK AROUND WATER PUMP AREA.AND THERMOSTAT HOUSING FOR LEAKS.THE MECHANIC WHO PUT THE WATER PUMP ON MAY FORGOT TO PUT SEALANT ON BOTH SIDES OF THE WATER PUMP GASKET CAUSING LEAKS.LOOK AROUND THERMOSTAT HOUSING FOR LEAKING.IF THERMOSTAT SEAL WAS DAMAGE DURING INSTALLATION IT WILL CAUSE LEAKING.IF ALL LOOKS GOOD CHECK FOR COOLANT LEAKS AROUND RADIATOR .CHECK RADIATOR TOP AND BOTTOM HOSES FOR LEAKS AND CHECK HEATER PIPES AND HEATER CORES HOSES FOR LEAKS.IF ALL HOSES GOOD.CHECK FOR LEAKING CORE PLUGS.

Make sure your coolant levels are up. If not, it may be the problem. The coolant sensor is reading inappropriate figures & sending incorrect timing figures to the computer. Change the coolant sensor & make sure your air filter is clean. The coolant sensor is close to the thermostat housing. Good luck!

To check the thermostat and water pump in one go, warm the motor up with the radiator cap off. ( may take 10 - 20 minutes at high idle )
You will feel one side of the thermostat housing is cool while the other is hot. If the cool side gets hot as the motor warms up, the thermostat is opening.
Now look into the top of the radiator and give the motor a little rev. You should see some rapid activity in the water. That is the water pump working and circulating the coolant.

If these both check out, you either have to get the radiator looked at , or, hopefully not, the cylinder head.

If the radiator is at fault, they usually come up on the gauge predictably over about 20 mins driving and can come back down a little if you stop and let them idle.

If the head is at fault, they just keep going up and will boil if you stop and let them idle.

These are general rules only, almost impossible to get more accurate over the net.

Your radiator shop should be able to do a very quick and cheap ( often free ) sniffer test to see if the head is leaking as they face the same issue when troubleshooting.

there are two sensors on that cooling system, one for the gauge or light in the car the other to turn on the fans at operating tempature. to test for a thermostat issue, as the car comes up to temp check to see if the upper and lower radiaror hoses are the same temp, (laser thermoter recomended) i use my hands. if one is hot and one is cold than a thermostat is stuck closed. and yes a leak can cause a problem with both the temp sensor and the thermostat.

The water outlet housing if installed properly, shouldn't leak. The only way to build up too much pressure would be for the thermostat to be stuck closed. I would find out where the leak is coming from before I went any further. Use the bleeder screw in the housing to bleed the air out of the system.

Engine head is likely cracked. A pressure test will verify a slow leak.

That's probably coming out of your coolant return bottle. With rad cap off & engine cool, look at your level in the rad, if necessary top it up to an inch or so from top. Start engine, turn heater(not defrost) on and let it run until up to normal operating temperature. Keep an eye on temperature gauge & rad level. When it's at normal, watch for good flow going through rad when thermostat opens. after flow slows down,(thermostat closes) top it up if needed. If you watch 2 or 3 times for flow, and gauge doesn't go over normal, then put cap back on, then fill bottle only to mark for warm or hot engine, with coolant. If gauge goes up over normal from there, replace thermostat, and I'd get a new rad cap too. If that has electric cooling fan, make sure it comes on shortly after you see thermostat open & coolant flowing through rad.

The oil leak is a good clue, it gets into the connector and shorts the signal.