I see your post was a while ago. I hope this helps you or anyone ells having Dodge over heating issues.
I have a 2002 Dodge Ram 1500 and a 2005 Dodge Grand Caravan. I also owned a 2001 Dodge Grand Caravan. ALL of them had thermostat issues. When you replace the thermostat make certain you get the proper heat rating. If it is rated tool low, then the check engine light will trigger the code that the engine is not heating up fast enough. I also recommend going with a 'fail-safe' thermostat. These thermostats fail OPEN rather than closed. My 2002 RAM factory thermostat failed closed, built up pressure, then blew half the water out from under the radiator cap. This happened in less than 35k miles. The dealer replaced it. After a couple of years it failed again. Make sure you have 50/50 mix of anti freeze to water. This raises the boiling point of the water, makes it more efficient for cooling the engine, treats the water so it does not corrode and scale up the cooling system and helps keep the liquid from boiling off there by reducing the volume of fluid in the cooling system. Also, BOTH my 02 RAM and 05 caravan developed a leak in their radiators. They were slow leaks and I did not notice it until I did some standard checks and found the coolant was low, Most shops can run a pressure test for less than $40 to let you know if your radiator is leaking.
You should also make sure that your AC cooling fans is running. There are fuses and solenoids in the fuse box that can sometimes go out. When you AC is on this fans will turn on. If not, it could create a lot of extra heat.
Shawn
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