I own a 1999 dodge neon. It has 95,000 mi. I commit about 40 to 50 mi plus a day, recently the car has been taking alot of oil (aprox a court a week) but i thought nothing of it. 2 days ago their was a heat wave in my town of aprox 115 deg. While driving on the highway my car temp spiked to H. I pulled over and let it cool off. The coolant was bubbleing. I let it cool off and continued home. Not too soon after the temp gage was at H again so i had to crank the heat. Then my stearingwheel would not turn what so ever, and when i pressed on the gas it did nothing. I pulled over and the engine was smoking. Car was leaking heavily oil and coolant. Luckly i was able to push the car home. I placed a new thermostat in the car. Let it run for about ten mins and the car spiked to h again. so i had it towed to auto repair.

Heres, the part i need help with.
The Mechaic called me today saying he found nothing wrong with it. So i go to the shop, he test drives it one more time, and charges me over 100 dollars for labor (when all he did was drain the radiator and add antifreeze) So i drive home, let my dogs out, and go two blocks from my house to pick up my friend. As i am waiting for him to come outside the temp gage spikes, i take it back to the guy and he says he will re look at it tomorow( as i am leaving i noticed a huge puddle of bright green which ofcourse is all anti freeze not mixed with oil this time) And their was also a slight smoke cloude particularly coming from the upper left coner of the engine(left to where coolant is located.) I honestly dont beleave he knows what he is doing. Can anyone please help?

 

I also forgot to mention....
About a week before my car overheated, my car was acting perfectly, what i found odd though is after driving along time, once i turned my car off and it sat for about a min the cars coolant would begain to bubble and if i turned the key (electronicaly on) the temp gage would be very close to h, how ever no matter how close it was to h if i turned the car on all the way, the gage would instantly jump to the middle, so i was puzzled and thought to little of it

 

bump**************

 

bump*****

 

The bubbling of coolent is not necessarily a problem. When your car is hot and pressure rises above the limit for the radiator cap, it will open slightly to let fluid in/out to the overflow tank. The bubbling will continue with the car on or off as it has nothing to do with being on/off - just heat/pressure. Once it drops below the preset level, the bubbling should quit as the radiator cap should reseal the system.

When it truly overheats, the cap will open, fluid will run into the overflow tank, and keep going until it overflows the overflow tank and will overflow onto the ground. Losing too much fluid will cause the system to get too hot really really quick and cause your engine to effectively melt down - meaning you will have to replace the head gasket at best - warp and crack the head as a worser case senario.

The puddle will be right behind the passenger front tire and if you look closely you can see fluid coming out the tank by the passenger fender when you look at the tank by the firewall. Be careful not to get a facefull of steam! This gives the impression that the head gasket may be blown when it isn't (hopefully).

If you do a compression check and it does not indicate a head gasket problem, if you don't see leaks in any of the hoses, then you can put some UV dye in the system and get a UV light to see where the leaks may be occurring.

You may also try just replacing the radiator cap and if it has been a long time (or maybe never), then also replace the thermostat. Both of these are quick and relatively cheap.

 

wile ur at it make sure the rad fins are not all mushed together, if you have A/C the rad you will see 1st when looking thru the grille is the condesor not the radiator.

Is your water pump working properly (seen impeller fins shrink away to almost nothing) then flow is useless?

Fingers crossed its not a head gasket (comression test and leakdown test will confirm)

you already have a new Tstat right?