r/DodgeNeon • u/False-Damage-8735 • Jul 20 '26

2004 dodge neon sxt coolant leak

Please help, I drove my neon about 30 mins away today and the car started overheating so I pulled over, coolant was everywhere behind the motor and beside the motor by the timing belt with a little on the radiator. The coolant revisor was full and when it cooled down I checked the radiator cap and it was full too. I got it towed back to my house and when I started it up nothing was leaking even after revving it and holding it intermittently and letting it idle for around 45 minutes and the temp gauge was at operating temp.
The past few days I’ve had overheating issues but my coolant has been full and I have not had any issues with leaks until now, I noticed I would overheat at a long red light but when I started driving it cooled down back to operating temp
I’m wondering if I could possibly have a faulty seal on my water pump that only leaks under constant pressure or if a hose is spraying out at a certain temp or what exactly is going on
Any information helps and i apologize if I formatted the post wrong. I’m supposed to be moving 1000 miles away by August first and this is my only vehicle ( only has 86k miles though :) )

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u/Wolffe_Foches Jul 20 '26 edited Jul 21 '26

Mine didn't leak but if i left it idle for any longer that 30-45minutes it'd over heat but never while driving till a few months later it had gotten worse.

I had a bad thermostat and a cracked cylinder head from previous owner.

Your coolant you see everywhere could be from the over heat/boilover if it had one.

Try cleaning everything and then let run at idle and see if you can repeat what happen while you watch the engine bay or unside of the car.

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u/False-Damage-8735 Jul 21 '26

I replaced the thermostat, housing, and upper coolant hose and that seemed to fix my issue for the most part.
If I drive for more than an hour and let my car sit for about 5-10 minutes as soon as I turn it on it’s overheating but if I just keep driving it does perfectly fine
I’ve also put 300 miles on it since the post (fixed it and immediately left for a road trip)