If you remove the lower hose and see coolant come out, don't mistake it with the coolant already in the radiator.

 

Well I assume if we take the hose on the bottom off and something comes out, then something must have made it through the rad cause the hose was off before we put the new used radiator in and it was bone dry.

 

Take both hoses off the radiator and shoving a garden hose on the top side. See if she's plugged up or not. Otherwise it sounds like you could have air in the system.

 

Coolant that has filled the radiator before. Usually some coolant in it.
But forget about it, there is no way you will mistake it with coolant from a pressurized system.

Just need a large pan to catch the coolant.
There is also a drain plug in the bottom passenger side.

 

Whats the best way to get air out of the system in these Neons? Do I take off that cab where the thermostat is? Every other car seems to have a air valve on the top except these cars.

 

It's called radiator cap actually.
On Dodge Neon, the radiator cap is on the upper hose.

Edit: My bad. Dodge Neon cars don't have bleed air valves on the radiators. I haven't owned any car that have that valve. Just open the radiator cap instead.

 

Air-

¨Slowly fill coolant reserve/recovery bottle to atleast the FULL HOT mark with the recommended coolant. It may be necessary to add additional cool ant to the reserve/recovery bottle after three or four warm-up/cool down cycles to maintain coolant level between the FULL HOT and ADD marks; if any additional trapped air was removed from the system.


7. Coolant level low in radiator, but not in coolant recovery/reserve container. This indicates the radiator is not drawing coolant from the coolant recovery/reserve container as the engine cools. As the engine cools, a vacuum is formed inside the cooling system. If the radiator cap seals are defective, or the cooling system has a leak, a vacuum cannot be formed.


7. (a) Check condition of pressure cap and seals. Replace cap if necessary.
(b) Check condition of filler neck. Replace if damaged.
(c) Check condition of hose from filler neck to coolant container. It should be tight at both ends without any kinks or tears. Replace hose as necessary.
(d) Check coolant recovery/reserve container and hose for blockage. Repair as necessary.

 

Yea so last night just opened the filler cap along the hose and started filling from there. Poured quite a bit in before we started to feel push back in the hose so at least I knew it wasn't clogged. Then ran it with the cap off and started to see some flow there after a while of heating up. Put the cap on, went for a quick drive around the block a few times (about the distance I did the night before) and no over heating. Heater worked as well. Got in the garage, the res was a little lower, filled it up to the max line and bam all good to go. Drove to wal mart and a few other places last night with my fiancee and never went past 1/3! Gonna check leaks this morning when I dont get lazy as it's very cold out today but I feel confident it's all done! THanks all for the help!