95 neon bubbling reservoir

[lgardner55]

i've got a 95 neon sohc and when i drive this car about 20 miles and turn off the ignition the coolant boils back into the coolant bottle for a few seconds. i've had a pressure test on the coolant system no leaks i've had the radiator flushed new thermostat also drilled small holes in the thermostat for better water flow. the car is not running hot and the coolant fans are working accurately anybody have any suggestions i give up!!!!!!

[das2123]

Replace your radiator cap. It's possible that your radiator cap is not sealing in the pressure, and allowing the system to vent all the time. It's a cheap part.

[lgardner55]

Originally Posted by das2123

Replace your radiator cap. It's possible that your radiator cap is not sealing in the pressure, and allowing the system to vent all the time. It's a cheap part.

4 got 2 mention that i already installed a new radiator cap when i had the radiator flushed

[neon_rt]

Sounds like the begining of a head gasket leak.
It's leaking enough to get air in the water but not enough to overheat yet. I drove mine for a couple of months like that. My wife said that I didn't know what I was talking about because her Dad said that wasn't what was wrong (he fixed his own cars 30 years ago). Then one day it fully blew on my way to work and ruined the head and cost $600 to fix it. I should have just changed it for the $60 it cost in gaskets and let my wife complain about that. Sometimes it's worth $540 so prove yourself right in front of your wife or GF though!

[maykelcj]

Originally Posted by lgardner55

4 got 2 mention that i already installed a new radiator cap when i had the radiator flushed

I read some were that bubbling is normal in the neon seservoir. I think it was on my Chilton manual. I also get bubling sometimes right after racing and come to suddent stop, after a few seconds I get the noise.

[the_game_rock]

I have a 99 dohc that does the samething it only has 53,xxx miles on it Its not hot or anything I also have a mls headgasket I would hope its not going to blow up on me.

[pinkslipRT]

the bubbling is normal it happens with most neons so dont worry
for more info go to neons.org

[pinkslipRT]

From: Stephan A. Zweidler, [email protected]

It took me a while to finally figure out what caused my head gasket to leak but here is the exact time line.

NOV97 - switch to Mobil 1, 5W-30

DEC97 - have dealer do 50K service and flush coolant (they don't replace radiator cap {foreshadow})

DEC to JAN - intermittent heat during cold starts, and smell of burning oil at stop lights

mid JAN98 - start refilling overflow bottle because it was "gurgling" or as some people have described "boiling" immediately after engine is turned off.

end JAN98 - oil leak progressing, make appointment to have it replaced.

last nite(early Febuary) - I shut off the (well warmed) neon, it "boiled", then I went to squeeze the upper radiator hose. VOILA ! It had NO pressure in it, and when I squeezed it the overflow tank "gurgled". This meant that the radiator cap was not sealing in the pressure and allowing the system to vent all the time.

SO, here is the deal {Josie and the PussyCats style}

They flushed the coolant in December but didn't replace the original cap which had seated itself onto the rim of the cap mount. When they put the cap back on, there was no way it was going to seal again, so the cooling system never pressurized and eventually boiled a significant amount of coolant out of the system. That meant that there was "void" in the cooling system that deprived the head and upper combustion chamber of much needed coolant for extended periods of time and numerous heat cycles. This (I suspect but will be sure on Wednesday) caused the head to warp and the gasket to fail causing my oil leak.

If anyone out there has a "boiling" or "gurgling" noise when they shut off their neon, it is likely that your radiator cap (not exactly on radiator anymore) is bad, and you could be boiling away precious coolant. Replace the $6 part now and save yourself $$$ later. The cap can be bought at Napa, p/n 703-1447, it's a 16 lb cap made by Balkamp.

It is likely that I will not be able to pin this on the dealer even though it was their negligence that ultimately caused the failure.

Donations will be accepted for the repair though ! (hehe)

Stephan A. Zweidler, President PSU-FSAE, A-mod Super Star (hehe)
Senior, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering
Graduate Candidate for MSME at Univ. of Michigan
Engineer-select at Chrysler Corporation (Start June 1998)

thought this might help u