I have a 04 Dodge Neon.Drove it today to work,no problems until i pulled into work,heard what sounded like pressure releasing.Opened hood,found coolant leaking from the overflow reservoir vent,reservoir was now overfull.Let it sit for a few hours,came back to check it,let it run for awhile,all seemed ok, coolant fan came on after a bit but never cycled off.Let it run/idle for a good while ,never overheated or got past half way on the temp gauge.Seemed to take forever for the top hose and top of radiator to get hot but the heater hoses were hot quickly.Decided to take it for a quick drive,temp gauge started to climb almost right away.turned on the a/c and it went to hot and coolant was coming out of reservoir.my question is ..would this be just a thermostat or do i have headgasket issues?...there is no intermix in the oil,no smoke from the tailpipe...the car has 118k miles on it...Also,it has reddish coolant..is this normal? the Hoat stuff?
Thanks in advance for any advise

 

if the ac is on the fan will most likely always run till the ac is shut off. you cou could have a restricted radiator or failing water pump. have you checked the radiator to see if its full or low? the upper hose should be hot to the touch and the lower just a bit cooler.

 

Yes,took cap off,coolant was full,let it run for a few and coolant stayed full,put cap back on so i didnt lose any..let it run with the a/c on for a minute to check fan operation,both worked ok..shut a/c off and let it run/idle,never got past 1/2 way on the gauge,fan eventually cycled on but never cycled off..stayed running...reservoir was full to the top but not expelling coolant....decided to take it for a ride,within a block temp gauge started to rise turned on a/c while driving and it went to H..got out,opened hood,coolant was coming out of reservoir..thats why im worried it may be a headgasket problem because it started this when i started to drive it...
Is it worth attempting to replace t-stat?..and if so is there any special bleed procedure?....

 

It seemed to take a longer time for the upper hose to get hot but it did..the heater hoses were hot to the touch almost right away ..

 

you can always take the stat out and boil it to verify that it opens.

 

delete the resevoir to the full mark. still sounds more like a water pump or restriction to me. how many miles on car? ever done the water pump?

 

Thanks to all for your advise.....installed a t-stat in it today,ran it,bled system..took it for a ride,trans started neutralling out.added a quart,took it for another ride,trans neutralled out again,rechecked fluid,nothing on stick added 2 quarts then noticed reservoir overfilling ..rechecked trans again..low..so it has to be the cooler in the radiator that ruptured...going to replace radiator monday,flush trans....go from there

questions i have now..i read cooler lines need to be replaced ,inner hose wall gets damaged when removed...is this true?
Also,i couldnt get HOAt red coolant ..only had universal green..is this ok?

I would have noticed something was wrong sooner if this had green coolant instead of red..would have seen the mix right away..

TIA for any advise on hoses and coolant

Also..i do need to flush trans right?...or can i get away without it...

Joe

 

You probably got coolant in the trans so I'd say flush it. As for the hoses, go ahead and spend the $10 on the hoses and new clamps. It isn't that hard to do them especially if you'll be replacing the radiator, just mark where the lines go and make sure you get the right size hose. I had to replace my radiator and the nipples on the new radiator were bigger than the old one so the original lines didn't fit right so I had to replace them all.

 

never heard of hoses bein a 1 time use thing. but they r cheap.

the green coolant is fine (orange is for GM junk)

for god sakes flush ur trans before it needs replacement, new fluid and filter.

you could get a new rad without the trans cooler(ask for 1 for a manual shift neon) and use an external cooler and never will the fluids mix again

 

G05 coolant is just fine for any car. DexCool is the most horrible coolant quite possibly ever made. Stay away from the orange fluid of death.