1. Home
  2. Chrysler Cars
  3. 1990 Dodge Spirit

1990 Dodge Spirit

It seems there are alot of cars with this problem. I've changed the thermostat, checked gages, etc, but to no avail. The temp needle goes eratic, there is tons of antifreeze in the car, but one other thing about this problem and I know it's all linked in the heater/cooling system. The engine never heats up enough to get warm. The heater blows out mediocre warm air if the temp isn't too cold, but if it's really cold outside the heater doesn't work. Tried getting to the heater core and replacing that but couldn't get to the damn thing, we tore that dashboard apart, we finally blew out the core like they would a radiator, but the heater still doesn't work and as soon as it gets hot outside the car says it's overheating. Any suggestions?

Reply to
bareblackonly
Loading thread data ...

I would suggest filling the system, purging out the air, and then monitoring it on a daily basis. Watch for the overfill resevoir filling and possiblity overflowing. With the engine cool, it should be in the

*normal* range, meaning that coolant has been drawn back into the system.

I too, have a 1990 Dodge Spirit with the 2.5L engine. It started to overheat, with the coolant coming out into the overflow, without ever being drawn back in. It turned out to be the headgasket. Exhaust was getting into the system, and pushing the coolant out. Once this occured, it would overheat.

I hope that your problem is simpler. A headgasket replacement is expensive to have done by a shop.

-KM

Reply to
kmatheson

this may not make any sense to you but your heater core is stopped up causing both problems and to verify this would be to remove the heater hoses from the heater core and connect them together bypassing the core. If the core is stopped up it will not allow the coolant to flow correctly thru the head. Thus causing the fluctuation with the gauge.

Reply to
maxpower

Glenn, if this is the case, would moving the tempurature slider all the way to the *cold* position act the same as bypassing the heater core? Also, if I remember correctly, isn't there some kind of check valve on the heater core hoses that prevents the coolant from flowing the wrong direction? If so, do these sometimes fail, causing the lines to be obstructed?

-KM

Reply to
kmatheson

MotorsForum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.