I received a call from my wife yesterday on the way home from work that the   
   Durango was saying "Check gauges", smelled bad, and was overheating.  I told   
   her to just pull over and I would pick her up and look at it on the way home.   
      
   Once I got to the truck, I saw something I had never seen before.  The   
   radiator hose that goes from the top of the radiator to the engine broke in   
   half.  That was only part of what happened.  There was a complete and total   
   mess all over the inside of the motor, hood, grill, etc of this brown milky   
   looking goo.     
      
   My first instict was thinking it was oil in the antifreeze - so I checked the   
   oil dipstick.  Oil looked fine.   
      
   Turns out the radiator sprung a major leak between the transmission cooler and   
   the antifreeze (both in the radiator).  This caused a flood of transmission   
   fluid to entire the coolant - overflowing the overflow, breaking the hose, and   
   making a huge mess.     
      
   I have yet to pick it up from the shop, but it got a new radiator - new hoses,   
   thermostat, and both the antifreeze system and transmission system were   
   completely flushed.     
      
   I had no way of knowing this was going to happen or I would have replaced the   
   radiator myself.  It was too late by the time this all happened as everything   
   needed a flush.     
      
   I should have taken pictures...  It was the oddest looking mess (and smelly)   
   that I have ever seen.  Nothing like loads of antifreeze and transmission   
   fluid all boiling and exploded all over the place.     
      
   I'm just glad that it didn't ruin the engine or transmission.  Everything was   
   tested and is fine now.  Hard to believe after the mess that I saw yesterday.   
   We had to have it towed - since the hose was ripped in half and no antifreeze   
   (if you could call it that) could get into the engine.  It sort of looked like   
   a coffee with lots of cream in it - about 10 gallons of it.   
      
   I have never seen or heard of a radiator failing like that.  You learn   
   something new everyday.   
      
   - Mark   
        
   --- WWIVToss v.1.50    
    * Origin:  http://www.weather-station.org * Bel Air, MD -USA (1:261/1304.0)