overheating neon

Kids will be kids....Think back when you first started to drive and what you did to your mom and dad!!! NEway, don't just put antifreeze in it if it doesn't need it. When does it over heat? highway speeds? idling in traffic? You need to take a look under the hood and see if the radiator fan turns on when it starts going to high. Is the check engine lite on?

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Started it up, before starting I looked at the temp gauge and it was still high. The radiator fan came right on. No check engine lite. Didn't run it for but 20 seconds.

She just mentioned that when she got home or to one of her errands it was bubbling somewhere (probably boiling water) sigh

When it cools down top off the radiator and overflow bottle and see what happens. Keep in mind if it is that low there must be a leak somewhere.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Reminds me of my wife when we first got married 20 years ago. She came home from shopping and claimed the car "had no power".

Took it for a test drive, and yea, she was right,,it had no power....

Problem was it was stuck in first gear (automatic) and the motor was revving like crazy.

Fortunately, it was all local streets so she most likely never got about

I asked her if she noticed the tach was up in the red and the answer was:

Tach?

Is that the other speedometer? I always wondered why the car needed 2 speedometers....

Sigh :(

Go easy on the kid!! Big people make mistakes too!

BTW the car lasted over 250,000 miles, after Dodge put a new tranny in it under warranty, before I sold it so at least she didn't kill the engine.

Let it cool, went down to Walmart (in my car) and got some 50/50 AF. Since I didn't know what was in the system, went that way. Put in the coolant bottle (dummy me didn't see the radiator cap, which wasn't on it, but on the hoses, long time since I've peered into an engine compartment). Drove around the neighborhood and it still got warm. Then found the cap and put about the rest of the AF there. let it cool more. Just got done driving around with the AC on and it never got above the 1/4 mark.

I have a feeling it was prompted by the record heat here today (I said in original post 110, and that was exactly what it hit). Not known is the status before, whether it had enough coolant, enough for the heat etc.

Going to have her hit the shop tomorrow to double check it all.

I appreciate the posts!!!!!!!!

It should be able to handle 110 without trouble. It has been 115-118 here in Phoenix lately. So far no problems in my vehicles. Sounds like your Neon was low on coolant for some reason. I'd be watching for antifreeze puddles!

"bizee" wrote

Now, you have something else to worry about. If it had the orange permanent antifreeze in it, and you put the green antifreeze in it (or the other way around) the mixing of the two different types will cause the stuff in the radiator to turn into brown goo. Very bad, and will clog you up, bad.

You should plan on going to a lube place, and have your radiator flushed, and put one or the other in. (whichever is recommended in your owners manual)