overheating

[sheryl]

95 neon, seems to just overheat when the car is stopped or going slow but once it's up to 55 it cools down, could this be the water pump?? car has prob 125,000...just replaced thermostatand changed coolant a month ago..any suggestions...thnks

[joedirt76]

Most likely your rad fan...had a similar problem on my eagle premier... the fan was pooched..

[Scatch!]

On the subject of the fan, have the sensor looked at. Also make sure the coolant level is correct.

[prcs]

The Rad Fans work?
Is not work, unplug the sending unit located in the left side of the engine, I think that is a 3 promp plug, start the car, is the fans still not working check the right side fan, this fan send power to the other fan on model with no AC, Im not sure about the models with AC, I had this problem whit the non AC model. If you right side fan is burn or had a open circuit you can unplug and put the power source directly to the other one in the left side.

Rey!

[KatWoman]

If the water pump has never been replaced I would get that done. If it seizes say bye bye to the motor.

If the water pump was faulty there would be a grinding noise and you would be leaking pretty bad. Check your hoses for cracks or splits.

Some other possible causes:

- bad radiator fan motor...fan(s) should be on at all times when AC is running
- bad fan relay
- bad coolant temperature sensor
- headgasket could possibily be leaking....a telltale sign is when you shut the car off and you hear the coolant violently bubbling back to the reservoir
- radiator cap may not be sealing properly
- your new thermostat may possibly be faulty (i've had it happen with non-Mopar ones)
- check your oil. Oil not only lubes your moving parts but also aids with keeping the motor cool.

[sheryl]

well, the car has been fine for the past few days, (it's my mom's car) as far as i know, the radiator fan works fine, it is on when the a/c runs (like it's suppose to) and comes on every now and then when the a/c is not on... the engine gets hot and the upper radiator hose is hot so that means the thermostat is good, at least the book says. the coolant level was fine. i talked to someone that said sometimes debris will get caught in there and block the flow of coolant... i dont know... but it's been fine for about a week so we'll see..

[KatWoman]

When's the last time the car had a radiator flush? I actually just remembered that I replaced my radiator last summer because it got clogged pretty good. It had been serviced regularly but I also was driving my car pretty hard (alot of exposure to dust in my area). I got a decent aftermarket one for $150 vs. the $375 the dealer wanted :greddy:

[sheryl]

well it did it again. it only overheats after it has been on the road for about an hour....when i changed her coolant i ran water through the system for a while but not under any pressure, just through a garden hose. but she said it overheates at the same place when she drives ususally around an hour. i guess i'll check the temp sensor and get a radiator flush kit and get some pressure in the radiator... any other suggestions...she says she'll turn the heat on in the car to draw heat away from engine and that will keep the temp down...

[Luvntucson]

Hope we get to hear from you to let us know how you fixed the problem. I recently had the same problem, overheating. And it only did it when idled. So that meant that when driving, the airflow was keeping the engine cool, but as soon as I stopped, the temp gauge would go to H and the alarm would come on. The fans were not coming on at all, only when I turned the AC on the fans would come on.

Our problem ended up being the ground wire from the battery to the front end of the chassis. Whenever we would turn the car on, the bolt screw holding the wire to the chassis would get really hot and it would " glow". We replaced about 4 inches of the wire, put a new terminal on it and drilled a new hole for the screw and that was it. For some reason it was shorting out causing the fans not to turn on when they needed to.