My Dodge Neon 1996 If it's not one thing it's another!?

Question

I have a dodge neon that has had more problems than I can finally handle, however I would like to see if I can fix it one more time..lol

My car is over heathing, a filter was put on it, i believe that is what it's called, It's cone shaped has to do with the coolent system, I don't have AC, and the coolent bottle it self is bubbling. Not sure now what the problem is, this guy who put the filter on said it's head gasket, any other thoughts? Oh I had gasket put on about 2 yrs ago

Answer 1

if it still overheats have the radiator checked in it those was bad to get stopped up at the bottom ,and that would cause them to run a little hot sometimes,as your car gets older it will cause more problems,all the older cars do,thats to be expected,you may not need a head gasket though,good luck.

Answer 2

the early neons were a reliability disaster.  no telling,

a filter on the coolant?  what you describe actually sounds like a cold air intake which replaced your air filter.  on cars with trouble with the coolant system having issues, this can make a car run hot as it burns cleaner and thus hotter.  there are really two solutions.

1.  put the old filter system back on.

2.  put an after market exhaust on.  these pull the air our faster, thus reducing the heat and counteract the affect of the air intake for heat. combined they should increase your HP and potentially you fuel economy as well.

Answer 3

Were you experiencing an overheating problem before the thermostat, if not it may be installed backwards. If the thermostat was an attempt to correct the overheat issue, then it likely has  insufficient coolant flow due to a restricted radiator or loss of proper circulation or a cooling fan issue.

Does it produce white cloudy 'steam" out the exhaust pipe, this is a sign of coolant escaping  into the combustion chamber, (head gasket or cracked cylinder  head). This condition can also allow combustion pressure to leak into the cooling system causing the coolant to escape out the overflow bottle.

If you see no steam, then a coolant flow or fan issue is the cause.