# 96 Neon overheating?



## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Girlfriends 96 neon is actin kinda weird. It doesn't actually overheat and lose coolant. If you sit and let it idle you can watch the temp slowly rise to a little above the halfway mark in the normal range. The fan will kick in and blow for a few seconds and then all of a sudden in a matter of at the most three seconds, the gauge pegs out and starts chiming. If you let it sit the chiming goes away and the temp goes bak to normal pretty quickly. Then after a min the fan shuts off and it all starts over again.

I replaced the thermostat a month ago and that has been working right. This just started. Any ideas??

thanks 
matt


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## Norm70 (Aug 26, 2005)

Could be a water pump. I had the exact same thing happen in my blazer and that is what it was.

When you say it is not losing coolant do you mean its just not leaking on the ground? If your losing coolant and see no leaks it could be a head gasket?


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## Sin man (Jul 25, 2006)

probably a head gasket. those cars are noted for haveing troubles with head gaskets. id trade that sucker off because its not a cheap fix on those cars.


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## mallard (Mar 27, 2002)

Look around the front of the engine from underneath the car. If the water pump is going bad, a small amount of anti freeze will leek out. Normally you can smell it also.
With a head gasket, dont you normally have a loss of power, and anti freeze in the oil?


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

No antifreeze in the oil and theres no water leaking anywhere. Everything is full. I did just recently replace the thermostat. Took it for a drive right after and it warmed up nicely compared to what it was before. When i pulled the old one out it was in pieces. If there was a piece of it still in the block would that do it?


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

We just made a trip down to Wahpeton two weekends ago and had no problems even driving all over Fargo in stop and go traffic.


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## Sin man (Jul 25, 2006)

you dont always have anti freeze in the oil with a head gasket out. your new thremo stat could be sticking and also do you have it in the right direction? and did you bleed it properly?


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Thermostat is definately in the right direction. Its possible that it could be sticking even tho it is only a couple months old. If it was sticking tho why would it always happen just a few seconds after the fan kicked in? When I changed it the hose and the housing are the highest part on the motor so I virtually lost no antifreeze. I did refill and let it sit and idle with the cap off for a while tho. How can i tell if the gasket is leaking if there is no water in the oil?


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## headshot (Oct 26, 2006)

I had the same problem, it started just like you explained. Then one day she calfed. Split head was my problem, it wasn't worth fixing.


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Now the check engine light is on. Don't know if its realated or not?


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Well I changed the thermostat today and there was still part of the old one in there so i got that out. Let it sit and idle for about fifteen mins with the cap off and topped it off a couple times to make sure it was full. Drove it around and it was fine. Then when I got home I let it sit and idle and its still doing the same thing.


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Ok here's something stupid i found out today. Gf's car hasn't been starting well either so i figured loose wire somewhere because if you play with the battery cable it'll start better. Traced a ground to a loose motor mount and tightened it up. Walaaaa, it starts perfect again.

Gf comes and picks me up from dropping my moms car off at the train station so she can use it to get home when she gets of the train tonight. We drive a few places and then home. Guess what the darn thing never overheated. We drove around for like another half hour and nothing. Weird how that one little ground that you wouldn't even think of would cause a car to do that. Hopefully it is good now. Only time will tell i guess.

Matt


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## bmxfire37 (Apr 26, 2007)

those neons are known for bad head gaskets


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## ac700wildcat (Oct 30, 2006)

Luckily no head gasket problems so far. Tightening that ground has proved to have been the trick. 8 months now and no problems.


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