Ok so I jusst bought a 96 neon. 2 door, 5 speed. so im all yay and woo hoo and lets go for a cruise to town. so off i go when all of a sudden shes heating up like asphalt on a hot summer day. I pulled over and of course theres a leak in the tank, only i think there was a hose or plug where its leaking from, ive just never seen one before to know, its in the bottom left corner of the tank. Please help! any input or a picture or something would be greatly appreciated! Also while i'm here, when I crank the wheels hard she starts letting out a screeching noise. I think it's something to do with the power steering and I don't think its normal so if anyone knows anything about that it would also be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
dodgeneonACR98
05-10-2006, 04:07 AM
A leak in the over flow tank shouldn't cause it to overheat! The good thing is you pulled over. The screeching sound is the power steering belt.
Get the coolant system fixed, and do not overheat that car or you will warp the head and have oil leaks if not worse! Anyways it would be alot of money lost when you could have prevented it by spending a little int he begining. Good luck.
Butane
05-10-2006, 03:59 PM
yeah thanks man, i just got the car sunday. i had no clue there was a problem. it turns out it was the rad and the rad fan, they're pretty messed up. i'm working on fixing this slight problem haha. then i'll be good to go. thanks for the reply!
rice_eater
05-10-2006, 05:19 PM
1st Gen neons are kinda known for weird PS problems... both ACR98 and I have thrown belts on hard shifts. I solved the problem (so far) with a UDP, ACR98 deleted his A/C, if i remember right. Is the belt squeeling or is it the pump? the '97 PS pumps (i dont know about the 96's) are known to howl because of the factory fluid (replace fluid, noise goes away), but it usually only occurs when its cold (below freezing). Doesnt hurt anything, but you cant hear your radio for a couple minutes until the fluid warms up when its below zero... LOL.
Butane
05-10-2006, 10:12 PM
i'm pretty sure it's the belt, it makes a real loud squealing noise. i won't lie, i'm new to cars so for all i know it could be the pump, but my first guess would be the belt.
rice_eater
05-11-2006, 04:47 PM
Check the belt for wear and see if its loose (with the engine shut off, of course). It shouldnt be cracked, worn excessively on either side, riped, chiped, or otherwise defiled. and you should be able to pull/push the belt more than 1" up/down (on the long portion from the crank to the PS pump) or front/back (on the portion from the AC compressor to PS pump). If you can it is too loose. Tightening is done by loosening the PS pump bracket thingy, inserting a breaker bar into the square hole in the bracket, and prying on it to raise the pump upward, thus tightening the belt. This is best done with an extra pair of hands to tighten the bracket back down for you while you hold tension on the bar.
There is one more possibility, which is that one of the pulleys is bent/misaligned, but usually that will wear the belt excessively on one side, as well as kind of torque it over on the pulley, and occasionally throwing the belt off the pulleys. This is what happened with mine. Threw a belt, replaced it, threw the new belt 2 weeks later (belt excessively worn), tried to put ruined belt back on, and thew it again 2 days later. I then ran w/o PS or AC for the end of fall and all through the winter until i got my UDP, which solved the problem. I think the crank pulley was either bent or not on all the way or something. It doesnt take much to wear a belt funny, just a few hairs out of alignment will do it.
